


Where the Blood Begins

by videogamelover99



Category: Xi You Ji | Journey to the West - Wu Cheng'en
Genre: Angst, Childhood Friends, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, I'll add more tags as i go, Rewriting the first part of the novel, Unhealthy Relationships, the six-eared macaque is not a good person, unnecessary villain backstory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24302392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/videogamelover99/pseuds/videogamelover99
Summary: Six Ear always thought they would only need each other. But that was never in his brother's plans.
Relationships: Liù ěr Míhóu | Six-eared Macaque & Sūn Wùkōng | Monkey King
Comments: 36
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

They’d found him on the shore one day, drenched to the bone, his fur coated with sand and rib bones poking through his skin, a sure sign of his malnourishment. According to them, he’d looked no older that five months. The monkeys, naturally social and cooperative creatures, had taken it upon themselves to bring him back, nourish him from the brink of death, and let him stay. They’d found plenty of interest in his ears, for none of the other macaques in the tribe had anything like it. But when, aside the number of ears he had, they found nothing at all different about him, the monkeys and apes quickly lost interest, letting him be.

He’d drifted for a while, wandering from troop to troop, belonging to all of them and none of them at once, before he’d decided, with the encouragement of their affectionate disinterest, that he was better off on his own.

That was when he first started hearing things. The call of bird high in the sky, the talk of demons many _li_ away, the whispers of other monkeys. He was a good listener and his curiosity had him spending days away from the rest of his kind, straining his ears to catch a glimpse of something _interesting._ None of the other monkeys paid this any mind, until, one day, he’d caught the approach of hunters, and had had enough sense to warn the rest of them to hide. _Then_ they were interested. In his strange ability, in the fact that with him, they were safer. And he’d taken his new duty with an appropriate sense of pride, but.

None of them had any interest in _him._

“Did you see that rock up on the mountain?”

“Looks like it’s going to crack soon.”

“What do you think is inside?”

“Nothing good, I bet. Better not to touch it. Tell everyone else to stay far away.”

And Six Ear had. He’d avoided the rock, because it was better to live and not know what it was or catch a glimpse of something horrible and end up as food for vultures. He certainly hadn’t gone looking for it on his own. But still, eventually, be it through fate or through sheer dumb luck, the rock, which had stood on the mountain for thousands of years, unmoving, had soon found him.

“Are you lost?”

The monkey had looked just like any other macaque: dull, grey-brown fur, long tail, protruding snout, big, shining eyes. They resembled him in every way, except the number of ears on _this_ macaque was blissfully normal. The monkey didn’t say anything. They sat down on the ground, staring. They looked small, much younger than him. “W-where are your parents?”

They just kept staring. Six Ear reached for the pinecones he’d dropped when he’d been startled, “Look, I don’t have time for- Okay, is this a game? Because there are plenty of others to play with that aren’t, you know, _me_.”

Apparently, they _did_ understand what he was saying, because the monkey pouted, folding their furry arms over their chest.

Six Ear sighed, and turned to leave, the pinecones under both arms. There was a shuffling behind him as the smaller monkey followed. “What,” he bit out, whirling back around, “do you _want_.” The monkey jumped back, eyes wide, then pointed at the pinecones. “A-are you hungry?” The monkey nodded. Six Ear took one of the cones and handed it to the smaller macaque. The monkey accepted it, then, after a beat, as if they had just remembered, knelt their head in a deep bow. This surprised Six Ear so much he burst out laughing, “okay, fine, have at it.” The monkey was definitely not one Six Ear has ever seen before. They chomped on the pinecone, teeth tearing at the whole of it.

Six Ear dropped all he was holding, his hard-earned dinner rolling in the dirt, and snatched the pinecone away from the monkey, a scandalized look on his face, “What are you doing?!” The monkey hissed and reached their skinny little arms to snatch it back, but he held it high above his head, using his height as leverage. “Look, okay, you eat the seeds,” he then dug his claws into the pinecone, demonstrating slowly. The monkey stopped flailing, looking at him with wide eyes, like he’s suddenly uncovered all the secrets of the universe. Six Ear let them take the pinecone back and watched as they diligently picked out the seeds and popped them, one by one, into their mouth. Six Ear squatted next to them, his foraging mission long forgotten. “Where did you come from, anyway?” he muttered.

The monkey paused their thoughtful chewing and pointed up at the nearby peak. The peak that his kind had been diligently avoiding. “Did you…come out of the rock?” He’d meant it as a joke, but the monkey nodded eagerly, finishing the pinecone and throwing the empty husk over their shoulder. “You’re kidding.” They shook their head. “You’re like a…stone monkey.” They shrugged.

Six Ear suddenly jumped to his feet, yanking the monkey up along with him. “Come on, come on! I have to show you to the rest of them!”

The stone monkey looked excited to meet their kind. They jumped up and down, tugging Six Ear after themself. The other monkeys were not as joyous about it. They crowded around the two, keeping a cautious distance, but not cautious enough where one of them couldn’t pop out and prod the newly arrived. The stone monkey found it amusing, giggling all the while and batting at their hands, which made any one of them retreat sharply, tails raised. “This is the one that came out of the rock?” Old Jing asked, carefully examining the creature.

“Yeah!” Six Ear could help but puff up with pride. This was certainly an event worth a new pile of gossip. He couldn’t wait to overhear it. “Looks just like us, huh?”

“It is a monkey,” the other observed.

“Bah! I bet it’s a demon. We should throw it over the nearest cliff, before it turns into something horrifying,” someone from deeper in the crowd called.

Six Ear, sensing the tension rising, carefully tugged the stone monkey towards him. “Let’s not.”

Jing frowned. “The next one who suggests throwing children off cliffs will be fed to the tigers.”

The monkeys backed off. While none of them were really in charge, as the oldest in the tribe, old Jing had a voice that was often listened to. Six Ear let himself relax, and stone monkey wiggled out of his grip, seeming unable to keep still for so long, and wandered about, already bored with the commotion their mere presence was causing.

Stone monkey decided, early on, that a good use of their time was to annoy Six Ear as much as possible. After the initial excitement of discovering them had worn out, after much question and prodding, the tribe, disappointed, decided that Shiho was, in fact, just as much a normal macaque as any. And Six Ear, still holding the title of the strangest of the apes, was content to let it be. But the little monkey was insistent. They would trail after him, eyes shining with a mischievous glint that was strange to see on someone so young. They'd coo and tug and do anything to get Six Ear to finally acknowledge their presence. And Six Ear, who was used to the others staying ways away from him, had had enough.

“ _What_ ,” he finally asked, “do you _want_.”

They were both high up, perched on one of the tallest branches of an old banyan tree, Six Ear’s spot to think. And spy. Sometimes. It was for practice. Up in that tree, his ears could catch any sound coming from as far as the other side of the mountain. If he’d concentrated enough. Unfortunately, with the stone monkey insistently tugging on his tail, that simply wasn’t possible.

The other froze that the words, finally letting go, before pointing down below, where a glint of a small stream could be seen peeking through the forestry above it.

“Then go swim! What do you need me for!”

The monkey gave him a glare, their whole-body twitching with impatience. 

“I don’t want to play with you. Find somebody else.” The older monkey closed his eyes, turning away.

But Shiho didn’t take the hint. The smaller monkey wrapped their arms around Six Ear’s torso, shaking him violently. “Agh! Quit it! I thought you were polite back when I met you, but apparently, you’re just a bully!” _Like the rest of them_ , he didn’t add. Unlike the other monkeys, Shiho harbored little interest for the number of his ears, deciding instead that pestering the rest of him was much more entertaining. In that, at least, Six Ear was glad. The little monkey stopped, letting go, and holding his gaze again, pointed at the stream. “Look,” Six Ear began again, “some people don’t like swimming. Some people don’t like playing. I am some people. Now, please,” he almost whined, “go find someone else who doesn’t fit that description.”

Finally, the little monkey backed off, slowly crawling to the edge of the branch, away from him. They pouted.

“Oh, come on, don’t look at me like tha-”

Then they sprang forward, wrapped their arms around Six Ear’s shoulders and the two, in a show of momentum, toppled head-first from the tree. Six Ear screeched in terror, Shiho in delight as they hit the stream together, water hitting the surrounding brush. The older monkey flailed around, struggling to surface, with the smaller one still clinging to his back.

“ _Why_ ,” Six Ear gasped as both their heads bobbed above the water, “would you _do_ that?” The stone monkey snickered in one of his ears, peals of laughter tumbling out in a primate’s screech, high-pitched and gravelly. “It’s not funny!” The laughter grew louder. “We could have died!” A wheeze. “What’s wrong with you!”

“What’s wrong with _you_ ,” the monkey shot back, and Six Ear almost drowned in shock.

“You can talk!?”

“ _Hahahaha!_ ”

“Why didn’t you say anything before?!”

More laughter.

“…You liked to see me struggle with your charades, didn’t you?”

The monkey shrugged, “I didn’t know I could before I did. So, I did.”

“That literally makes no sense.”

“Nuh-uh!” Shiho shook their head vehemently, “I didn’t know a lot of things before I’ve tried them. _Walking, looking, talking_ ,” they seemed to run out of verbs, “talking…”

“Okay, fine, whatever,” Six Ear heaved himself onto the shore, his fur dripping wet and shivering.

“Where are you going?”

“Away.”

“Can I come?”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t like you!”

This seemed to give them some pause. “Why?”

“Why what?!”

“Why don’t you like me?”

“Oh, _I don’t know_ ,” he ground out, surprised and the venom in his voice, “you pester, bully and make fun of me on a daily basis. You don’t _listen_ to me, you stick to me like a flea, and your voice is annoying.”

Shiho pouted. “No it isn’t.”

“ _Yes_. It _is_.”

“ _Yes,”_ a voice behind them agreed, “ _it is_.”

Six Ear’s cold, soaked fur stood on edge. Shiho froze in the water. The older monkey slowly turned around, coming face to face with a beast ten times bigger than him. It smiled, its teeth glinting between its strong jaws. The stripes on its face rippled and glinted in the sunlight.

Six Ear’s voice died in his throat.

“Aren’t you a bit far away from the rest of your kind?” the tigress continued, her voice melting with glee.

“We-”

“What’s it to you?!” Shiho jumped out of the stream in one bound, their fur spraying water everywhere. The tigress flinched as some freezing-cold droplets landed on her pelt.

“Bold one, aren’t you? Don’t you know that tigers hunt little monkeys like you?”

Shiho’s eyes widened, like they’d discovered something truly remarkable. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Hm.” They frowned, seeming to think, “but you don’t have to. You could eat something else.”

“But why would I, if the two of you are so convenient for me?”

What an idiotic conversation. Six Ear was about to bolt, right when the tiger was distracted, but something stopped him. No matter how annoying, he still would’ve felt bad if Shiho was left to be devoured by a tiger, even if it was out of their own stupidity. “If we stayed in the tree, none of this would’ve happened,” he was compelled to add.

“Shh I’m talking,” Shiho bowed to the tigress politely, “I only learned today,” they explained to her.

“I see…”

“Liu Er doesn’t like it. And, I guess, neither do you,” the monkey gave her a pleading look, “you really don’t like my voice?”

“Hm,” the tigress actually seemed to think on that question, and Six Ear couldn’t phantom _why._ “I suppose it’s not as bad as I first thought. Sufficient.”

Shiho beamed.

“Liu Er?” The tiger only now seemed to notice the four extra facial features on his head, “on the nose, isn’t it?”

Six Ears looked away.

“I guess,” stone monkey pointed at themself, “I’m Shiho.”

“Shiho…” the tigress seemed to recall something, “you don’t have anything to do with that rock that split open a few months ago?

Shiho nodded eagerly. Recognition seemed to fuel them, “That was me.”

“Ha ha!” she laughed suddenly, low and thunderous, sending Six Ear shaking in place, “So that’s what happened to it!”

“Do _you_ have a name?”

The tiger grinned, “Nuan.”

Six Ear frowned, his terror momentarily forgotten. What an odd name for such a malicious creature to have.

“Are you still going to eat us?” Shiho has asked it like they’d just asked about the weather.

“Oh no. How could I eat the one born of heaven and earth?” the tigress shook her head, her eyes crinkling in amusement, “That would be a bad omen.”

The two chatted away as Six Ear trailed behind them, following the stream. He was, well, not lost, no. Baffled. The little stone monkey, who he’d decided was nothing but a nuisance, had not only discovered their voice, but had used it to convince a vicious predator that it shouldn’t murder them, something it had mastered from birth.

A mile later they parted ways, the tigress treading slowly through the shrubbery, the muscles in her shoulders visible under the gleaming fur. And finally, Six Ear let himself breathe. The reality that they were _not_ going to die was too hard for him to grasp. Heart pounding, he turned to the smaller monkey, who watched the tiger go with what could only be described as longing on their face. “You’re lucky she gave you special treatment for your weird backstory. Or we’d _both_ be dead,” he growled under his breath.

“But we’re not!”

“ _No fucking kidding_.”

“Then why are you angry?”

“I’m not-” He wasn’t angry. Or was he? The all-encompassing pull of dread was replaced by something fiery and not quite rational. Six Ear sat down, legs crossed beneath him, tail tucked neatly between, the rough tumble sending a cloud of dust up into the air. Shiho followed suit. The little monkey looked at him, and Six Ear could see the innocent curiosity in their eyes, like everything around them was just a game, a game that they was sure they had a chance of winning. “How were you not scared?”

The other shrugged.

Six Ear sighed, long and hard through his nose, before putting his face in his hands. Shiho jumped from the sudden bark of laughter. Six Ear tumbled backward, his back hitting the dirt. “You’re an _idiot_ , you know that?”

Stone monkey frowned. “No, I’m not.”

The earnest, passionate denial only made the older monkey laugh harder.

“Okay,” he finally said, stifling his giggles, “okay. Come on, let’s go home _… Shiho_.”

“I don’t know why you hang around him all day,” Ma said, scratching at her chin, “he’s full of it.”

“Full of it?”

“He thinks he’s better than us. That’s why he spends all day holed up somewhere else.”

After finding his voice, it took very little time for Shiho to accumulate more monkeys to be around. It wasn’t hard to see why. The monkey had a naïve charisma about him, and a curiosity that drove every interaction he had. The other young monkeys flocked around him, waiting to see what new, dumb thing the macaque-born-of-rock would do. Six Ear, if anything, found his popularity incredibly irritating.

Ma, the only other monkey that could compare to him in terms of boldness, was the first to claim him. Like she’d decided that without her guidance poor little Shiho would be lost to the world.

“He says he ‘likes being alone’,” Shiho droned, unaware that the subject of their conversation was currently ten _ch_ _ǐ_ up in a tree, listening in. This wasn’t anything new, hearing the other monkeys’ chatter be about _him_. If anything, Six Ear usually found it flattering. No one else in their tribe had gained quite the reputation like he had. But then, he hadn’t expected Shiho to do the same. It was irrational, why wouldn’t he? But Six Ear had thought to expect more from the little monkey. And there Shiho was, participating in baseless gossip, like the rest of them.

Ma rolled her eyes. “That’s what someone full of it would say. Tell me, does he ever look like he wants to be around you?”

“…”

“Leave him be. Trust me, it’s better this way.”

It was better this way, wasn’t it? Ma would finally get the stone monkey to leave him alone. No one would pull on his tail, or force him to play with them, or be a general acoustic nuisance with no filter attached, the chatter filling up his six ears like a cloud of gnats.

“He spies on people,” Beng, a black-coated gibbon that Six Ear hadn’t said _one word_ to before, stated gleefully, “and not just for predators or hunters. I bet he’s spying on us right now.”

The group of young monkeys paused to look around nervously. Only the stone monkey seemed unbothered.

“It’s cause of ‘is ears,” Ba, another gibbon, added, “’e can ‘ear things we can’t, so ‘e thinks we’re not worth ‘is time.”

Shiho frowned. “Is that what he told you?”

“Well, no, but-”

“Then how do you know?”

From his hiding place, Six Ear snorted.

The other monkeys muttered something under their breaths, but Ma just rolled her eyes. “It’s obvious.”

“Well. I’m gonna ask him.”

Ma sighed. “Do whatever you want.”

Six Ear groaned, already dreading when, later in the day, the monkey would pounce on him from behind, demanding answers to his hapless questions. And yet, some deep tension hanging about him suddenly broke free.

It happened just as he’d predicted. Hours later, after the sun had settled in the western side of the sky, Six Ear found himself on the ground, eating dirt, the flower he was about to consume scattered in bright pink petals. From on top of his back, Shiho giggled.

“With the rate you’re growing, you’re gonna end up crushing me.”

“Eh, you’ll live,” the stone monkey waved his hand up and down dismissively, before stepping off him and offering a hand. Six Ear took it and got up, grumbling as he brushed the dust off his fur.

“What do you want now?”

“You know.”

Six Ear froze. “I don’t.”

Shiho squinted at him, eyes shining with mirth. “I saw you this morning. Up in that tree.” Then he leaned in, teasing, the smile never leaving his face, “you _spy_ on people.”

“No, I don’t!” the bigger monkey spat back, defensively. “You lot are just loud,” he mumbled, glancing at the petals on the ground.

Shiho kept squinting, his hands on his hips.

“Well, what is it? I don’t have all day.”

“Ma said you think you’re better than us,” Shiho stated in that matter-of-fact way of his, “is she right?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” he spat back, “ _I_ don’t go around spreading around baseless gossip.”

“You don’t spread it, no,” the stone monkey smiled again, “but you sure do like to listen.”

Six Ear said nothing.

Then the smile slipped off the monkey’s face, and he suddenly looked away, all trace of boldness gone. “Tell me,” he asked, eyes cast downward, “do you… _actually_ hate me?”

“I-”. He was going to say yes. But something stopped him. Because at that moment, he realized that it simply wasn’t true. And the way that Shiho was looking at the ground, shoulders tense, bracing himself for rejection, made Six Ear suddenly decide, then and there, that he never wanted to see that expression on the monkey’s face again. “I don’t hate you,” he finally said, quiet. Shiho looked up, wide-eyed. Something in Six Ear’s chest clamped on and _squeezed_. “You are annoying, yes. And a bully. And terribly loud.” He rubbed his ears in emphasis. “But I don’t hate you.”

A smile slowly spread across the young monkey’s face. Not one of his usual, mischievous smirks. A real smile. And Six Ear suddenly felt incredibly warm, giddy with an energy he didn’t know he had. “So you like me, then.”

Aaand the moment was gone. “Psh! No, I _don’t_ like you.” Six Ear leaned away, arms folded across his chest, eyes rolled back, “get over yourself.”

“You do! You like me!” the smaller monkey cackled in glee, poking Six Ear in the chest.

“And feed that ego? Ha!” Six Ear reached down and poked him back, in the stomach, “where do you even keep something that big?” Shiho flinched away, a sharp cascade of giggles erupting from his chest. Interesting. Six Ear filed that away for later.

“Do monkeys usually go deep into the woods to talk about feelings?” The new voice was familiar, yet Six Ear sprang back all the same, startled.

Nuan smiled at them, teeth bared. It took all his might to suppress the very rational instinct telling him to climb up the nearest tree. “Hi.” He said dumbly.

Shiho, on the other hand, seemed delighted. “Nuan! You’re back!”

“That I am,” she regarded them calmly, “you better be careful.” Her grin grew wider. “There are many things on this island that love to eat little monkeys like you.”

Six Ear shuddered. He was so distracted; he’d forgotten to keep an ear out for danger. Again. If anything, that loud stone monkey was a hazard to their health.

“Don’t worry,” Shiho nudged him in assurance, “if anything comes, I’ll beat ‘em up.”

Nuan’s brow shot up. “Oh, will you?” she purred.

“I’ll get a stick or a rock and whack ‘em over the head.”

“Uh-huh.”

Six Ear put his face in his hands in embarrassment. With how articulate the little monkey’s speech has gotten, he’d forgotten that Shiho was, at his core, still a child, with zero self-preservation instincts. The thought of the reckless little monkey getting eaten by some great beast for his foolishness did not leave the best taste in his mouth. “We’ll go.”

“Ha! You kids are hilarious,” the tigress chuckled, rumbling and low, “You’d better get back before the sun sets.”

At this, the older monkey raised an eyebrow, “are you…babysitting us?”

“Eh, call it whatever you like,” the tigress flicked her tail, “this one,” she nodded her head at Shiho, “sent me flowers. In _gratitude_ for not eating you.” She smiled, “Of course, he didn’t know that flowers were no substitute. But the thought wasn’t overlooked.”

“Yeah, he’s weird like that.”

Shiho punched him in the arm. His little fist hurt more than it had any right to.

The tigress watched them as the two walked away, the smaller one playfully nudging the other. She watched them until they disappeared beyond the trees, out of sight, her golden eyes glowing in the darkness. Then, she left, her form prowling slowly back where she’d come from before she heard the children’s voices. They were an odd pair. Something told her they weren’t _quite_ what they appeared to be.

The next time Shiho had found him, he was back in his tree, listening to the bird calls fading with the last rays of the sun. He strained his ears, catching faint sounds in the corners of his perception. He had learned to listen beyond the boundaries of their small island, had learned to recognize the creak of human ships, the whisper of dragons and gods up above, but anything concrete still eluded his grasp. It took all his concentration, all his energy to focus outward. His breath stilled, his heart pounded, too loud, in his chest. One of his ears twitched, hearing the familiar scratch of claws on bark, but he gave no other sign of notice. There was only one person who knew where to find him.

Still, the quiet surprised him. He finally cracked one eye open, the tiny monkey next to him perfectly still, the only thing betraying his impatience was the sporadic twitch of his tail. “ _Shiho_ ,” he greeted, the usual hint of annoyance absent from his voice, “what is it?”

“What do you hear?” the stone monkey asked, leaning closer, his arms wrapped around his folded knees.

“Oh, you know,” the older suddenly felt embarrassed, “stuff.”

“What stuff? Cool stuff? Cool stuff you’re not sharing?”

“Er-,” Six Ear looked around, “I…guess...?“

“Can you hear the others? What’re they saying? Are they talking about me?”

“Nosy, aren’t you?” Six Ear smirked, “now who’s spying?”

“Still you.”

The older monkey clicked his tongue, wondering if he could drag out the other’s patience a bit longer. It usually was even shorter than his stature and, judging by how long Shiho had waited to be noticed, there wasn’t much of it left. “I can hear Ma,” he finally relented, and the little monkey scooted closer. “she’s throwing her weight around again,” he suddenly snickered at his own joke, “and there’s a lot of weight to throw.”

The joke sailed straight over Shiho’s head. “What’s she saying?”

Six Ear grinned, fangs showing. “’ _Oh, would you quit it?! It’s good that there’s someone with some sense around here!’_ ” He strained his voice, imitating her higher pitch and smoother diction.

Shiho scowled, not impressed. “That’s not what she sounds like.”

“Oh really? And here I thought I was spot on.”

“No, it’s more like: ‘ _When will you learn?! When will you learn that your actions? Have consequences!’_ “

“’ _Where’s that no-good_ Liù ěr míhóu _off to? I bet he’s spying on people! I’m not jealous of his cool ears at all! I’d rather get eaten by a demon than listen to him!_ ”

“ _Don’t touch that,_ Shiho _! Stay still,_ Shiho _! Why don’t you listen to what_ I _say,_ Shiho _!”_

Six Ear caught the sound of her voice again, louder than before, “’ _Those idiots think they’re so fucking funny,’_ ” he repeated, “ _’wait ‘till I throw both of them over the edge of the mountain.’_ ”

Shiho laughed, rolling backwards in a tangle of limbs and fur. “Ok, I can see how that’s her.”

“Oh, can you?”

The laughter ceased. The two monkeys looked down, and there stood Ma, hands on her hips, her teeth barred in a threatening grimace, “Why don’t you get down here so I can fulfill that promise?” she growled.

He was going to have to find a new tree.

Shiho, as always, looked utterly unfazed. “Ma! We were just talking about you.”

“I. Heard.”

To Six Ear, he whispered, “ _why is she so angry_?”

“All women are emotional like that.”

Ma’s nostrils flared. “Just because I’m not a freak doesn’t mean I’m _deaf_.”

Six Ear’s grin slipped off his face. “What’s your problem?”

“ _My_ problem?” she screeched, “what’s _your_ problem!? You skulk off every day heaven knows where, you don’t bother talking to any of us, but apparently have time to _spy_ on us instead! You offer no help whatsoever and you’re a creep! Whoever you belonged to before probably thought _good riddance_!”

His craws dug into the bark underneath. Something between his ears was ringing.

Down on the ground, Ba appeared from behind the bushes, apparently there the whole time. And he’s the creep. “She’s right,” he added, eager to be included, “ _Shi’o’s_ born out of a stone, but at least ‘e _acts_ normal. Dunno why _you’re_ so weird all the time.”

Six Ear heard the sharp intake of breath next to him, but the ringing cacophony in his head was too loud for him to pay any mind to it. He snarled, struggling to form words, then bolted, catching himself on another tree, and another, until his form disappeared completely in the darkening overgrowth.

“That’s right, run away,” Ma muttered after him, her anger suddenly leaving her.

She looked up. Shiho looked back. She swallowed, boldness gone. “Listen, about what Ba said, he’s an idiot- “

“’Ey!”

“And you aren’t-”

The monkey jumped down nimbly, landing in front of her in full height, which she realized now reached just above her shoulder. “Why did you say those things? He didn’t do anything to you.”

“Of-of course he did! You heard him! He was-”

“I made fun of you, too,” he said, “but you aren’t angry with _me_. Why?”

Ma sighed. “Look, trust me, it’s complicated.”

But the stone monkey shook his head, backing away as she reached for him. “I don’t think it is. I think it’s very simple.”

Ba stepped forward then, “’Ey, kid-“

But the monkey was already gone, leaping through the undergrowth is the same direction the six eared macaque had gone.

“Let him go,” Ma said.

“But it’s getting dark-“

“So you should go home then, shouldn’t you!?” she snapped. Ba backed away, and the female monkey watched him leave before sitting down, under the tree. Waiting.

“ _Liuer! Liuer!_ ” Shiho called out, his eyes barely making out shapes through the oncoming darkness. In the night, the crickets gathered in a symphony of voices, their abundance driving out even his own. But he knew the older monkey could hear him. He could always hear him.

But if he did, Liuer didn’t bother to answer. Shiho was left, standing in the dark, not knowing if the shadowy figures around him trees or something more sinister.

Willing his heart to stop racing, the little monkey stood still, his ears straining like he’d seen the Six Ear do time and time again. He closed his eyes, making out the crickets, the soft coo of nighttime birds, voices that he did not know the origin of. And then, he heard it. A stifled cry, coming from the trees above. He focused on it. Someone was sobbing quietly.

Fumbling around, the stone monkey found purchase in one of the trees in front of him. _“_ Liuer? Is that you?”

The sobs quieted even more, until they were hardly there. Shiho’s claws dug into the bark as he slowly made his way up. “Liuer _,_ they didn’t mean it!” They did. “Okay, they did, but-” But why would it matter? Six Ear always acted like he never cared what the others thought of him, so why should it matter now? And for the record, why did _he_ care?

It had stung, what they said. He remembered Ma’s mother, and the way Ma talked about her, exasperated at the unwanted attention she was getting. Shiho had remembered, then, that he would’ve done anything at that moment to have someone just as annoying in his life. He wondered if Liuer felt the same.

He’d finally reached the lower branches. Shiho grabbed onto one, blind in the darkness.

The branch moved, slithering out of his grasp before something sharp and hissing pieced the back of his hand. The little monkey let go with a cry, tumbling out of the tree like a stone. The voice above him gasped.

He hit the ground, hard, his body finding barely any purchase before he slid down a steep, jagged slope, one he’d never even seen was there. He shrieked as something in his shoulder gave away, his arm numb from the pain. He heard Liuer’s voice, yelling his name. And then nothing.

Six Ear had heard the sharp cry of the monkey bellow him, jolting him out of his state of self-misery. He’d ignored him, hoping he would take the hint and go away, but that never was how that one worked, was it? The younger macaque never quit. “ _Shiho_?”

He heard the clatter of rock right below him. Shuddering, Six Ear strained his ears, his eyes useless to him in the darkness. But his ears caught nothing. Not a trace of the younger monkey’s voice. The noise of the jungle took over.

“ _Shiho_ , where are you?” Six Ear moved to climb down the tree, taking care to avoid the branch that was hissing suspiciously. Silence. “You _stupid_ monkey,” he breathed, suddenly panicking.

He jumped down from the tree, stumbling for balance. He could hear the ambiance of the forest around him, and something just beyond the tree truck, a vast, echo-y emptiness of open space. There was a ravine next to him, buried deep in the forest floor right beneath the tree he took shelter in, that he knew. And he’d heard rocks falling.

“ _Shiho_!” He cried, the panic suddenly seizing him, “ _Shiho!_ ”

Silence. He was alone.

“Shi-!”

“Would you stop yelling?!” a new voice cried out, Ma’s labored breathing somewhere behind him.

“Ma?”

“Who the fuck else?” she wheezed.

“Why are you here?”

He heard the sharp rustle of fur as Ma stiffened. “You two ran off in the middle of the night. What else was I supposed to do?” she growled, “what happens if you two idiots get eaten, hm?” Then she paused. “Where’s Shiho?”

His heart skipped, the panic returning, “I don’t _know_ ,” he wailed, “I think he… _fell_ …”

He nudged her in the direction of the ravine, her outline just visible next to him. He saw her back away slightly. “You let him fall?”

Then he remembered why he was so angry with her. “Don’t pin this on me,” he said, low, “if you hadn’t said anything, none of this would’ve happened.”

“Well, if you hadn’t run away crying like a _baby-_ ”

“Well if you-!” he forced himself to calm down, “we need to find him.”

“Obviously, since- hey!”

Not bothering to indulge her in any more useless chatter, Six Ear grabbed her hand, leading her to the edge of the chasm. Carefully, he stepped down, listening for any shifting in the rock that signaled that it could give away. Behind him, Ma was strangely quiet, her rapid heartbeat the only indication of her nerves. They were both stumbling in blind, but while Six Ear at least had his hearing to guide him, Ma had nothing but her reluctant trust in him, that he wouldn’t let them fall. He decided not to think about that possibility, or the fact that they could as well stumble around until daylight, and by then, the stone monkey would be-

He slipped, concentration lost as the gravel under him gave away. Ma tugged him backward to steady them. He couldn’t tell how far down they had gotten. “You’ll get us all killed,” she muttered in his ear, and he shrugged her off before grabbing her arm again.

They’d made it to the bottom. It was crowded with vines, shrubbery brushing against their fur in a way that made them jump. Six Ear couldn’t hear anything, not with the constant ringing in his head.

He crouched down and pressed his ears to the ground.

“What are you doing?” Ma hissed.

“Shut up.” He tried to concentrate. He searched to a pulse, a hint of breath, anything that would give away where the little monkey had fallen.

And then. He heard it. Shallow breath, a few _ch_ _ǐ_ away from them. Six Ear stumbled to his feet, pushing past Ma into the bushes. “Hey!”

He ignored her. His feet kicked over something soft and hard at the same time, something that gave a low, pained groan as he jostled it. Six Ear fell on his knees, his arms wrapping around the little monkey body, warm and breathing and _alive_. “ _Shiho_ ,” he almost sobbed, clutching at the smaller monkey like a child clutching a cloth toy. He heard Ma run up beside him, breathing a sigh of relief. “I found him,” he whispered to her, as if saying it any louder would snatch him away from them.

“yeah, good job,” she replied, betrayed by her shaking voice, “now come on, let’s get out of here.”

Easier said than done. The slope was steep and climbing up was going to be much harder than climbing down. And with Shiho dead to the world, it would be a struggle for the two of them to lug him up there. He paused, trying to figure out a plan, when something moved in the bushes behind them. His ears twitched.

Wait. Was that-

“Get down!” he hissed, crouching low in the foliage, yanking Ma along with him. The latter ripped her hand away, “What are you-” then she saw it. Two glowing eyes in the darkness. The eyes of a predator. The two froze, hearts pounding, hoping it was dark enough for them to blend in.

The creature did not leave. It moved closer, until even Ma could hear its steady, powerful breath. They were going to die. Six Ear clutched Shiho’s still body, wondering which one it would want to devour first. Maybe the it’d go after the stone monkey, preferring injured pray to one that still had a chance of running.

Just then, Shiho cooed, stirring in his grip. Two cat eyes made contact with his own.

In a split second, Ma was no longer there. She pounced on the creature, a branch appearing in her hand, and she wedged it between its jaw, forcing it open. The creature – a leopard, by the sound of it, growled, trying to wretch its head away. “Go!” the monkey cried, “I’ll catch up!”

Six Ear was too busy recovering from his shock. “Are you crazy?!” he finally managed, “You’re gonna get eaten!”

The female monkey snarled, and the sound was more terrifying than ten thousand leopards. Six Ear finally got his limbs to work, and, clutching Shiho tightly to his chest, he bolted, trying to find the edge of the chasm.

He’d almost smacked into it, feeling the rock with his fingers. In his arms, Shiho groaned again. “ _Liuer_? What’re you doing?”

“Saving our lives!” he snapped back, out of patience, “can you climb?”

Shiho stood, his arms reaching up to find purchase in the rock, before he cried out, right hand clutching at his left shoulder.

“I’ll take that as a no.” Six Ear heard the chilling roar of the leopard, overpowered by Ma’s furious, desperate screams. They were running out of time. “Okay,” he said, “hop on my back. I’ll take us up.”

Shiho glanced away, toward the fight. “Is that Ma?”

“ _Yes_ , now come on, _please_.”

“W-we should help her,” Shiho’s voice was shaking. “We should-”

Six Ear grabbed him, and the monkey cried out, shoulder thrashing, “What. Are you gonna _do_? Like _this_? What could you possibly do?! Stop being an idiot and let’s _go_ already.”

Beneath his hands, the stone monkey was shaking. They were close enough where Six Ear could see his face, wide eyed and naïve and utterly _terrified_.

“It’s going to be okay,” he suddenly said, his mouth working before his brain had time to stop him, “I promise it’s going to be okay. But you must _listen_ to me, please.”

The little monkey stared him down. Then he nodded, jerking his head, and slumped, weighed down by exhaustion and pain. He let Six Ear help him onto his back, and the older monkey began to climb, blocking out the sounds of the surrounding battle and trying his best to ignore Shiho’s terrified little heart pounding against his shoulder.

They’d made it to the top, where Six Ear collapsed on the ground, wheezing. Shiho still clung to his back, a ball of fur and claws, and the older monkey wrapped an arm around him, stroking his head. He felt the wetness there. “See?” he said, “I told you. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

Then Ma came shooting up past them, over the edge of the ravine. The sharp smell of blood struck his nose. Down there, the leopard was not far behind, its claws finding purchase in the slippery rock. With a yell, the monkey pulled out her branch, wedging it between the ground and a large boulder. “A little help?!”

Six Ear scrabbled toward her, and together, they pulled on the branch, the boulder gave way from the loose soil, sliding down toward the creature bellow. They heard a sharp cry, a shriek of pain, and then nothing. Ma collapsed to her knees, wheezing heavily. She clutched her side, which Six Ear was pretty sure was bleeding.

He collapsed next to her, his legs too shaky to hold him up. “I’m not carrying both of you,” he warned.

Thankfully, Shiho was good enough to walk, and the two held up Ma between them, the latter hunched over their shoulders like an empty sack. The little monkey was quiet the whole way, unnervingly so, and even Ma hadn’t said anything save for a well-placed insult when Six Ear accidentally brushed her injured side. Their tribe greeted them with shrieks of excitement and nervousness, Ma’s mother having ripped her away from them the first chance she had.

Old Jing examined the snake bite on Shiho’s hand. “You’re lucky the venom wasn’t lethal,” he said, but it was clear that the effects of it haven’t faded completely, because the little monkey stumbled, disoriented without anyone there to guide him.

“Why’s his arm like that?” Six Ear asked.

Jing frowned. “Come here.” Shiho stepped toward him, only to try to pull away when the old ape took his shoulder. The little monkey shrieked as it was popped back in place, before clamping down on his bottom lip, silent.

It took the rest of Six Ear’s energy to finally get him to sleep. The older monkey wrapped his arms him so the smaller wouldn’t squirm out of the tree, and when Shiho’s breathing finally, finally evened out, Six Ear let himself relax, the exhaustion overtaking him completely.

He woke up with someone shoving at his shoulder. “ _Liuer! Hey, Liuer!_ ”

“What.” He snapped, and the whispers of his name quieted.

“Where’s Ma?” Shiho asked, looking wide awake.

“Where do you think?! You were there.”

“Oh.” The little monkey frowned in hard thought. “I don’t remember,” He confessed.

Six Ear sat up. He heard of this, from the stories the other demons told each other. When someone hit their head and didn’t remember what happened afterward. Or fell asleep, not to wake up again. Shiho’s eyes were slightly unfocused. “How’s your head?”

The stone monkey touched the back of it, and winced. “Hurts.”

“How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked.

Shiho scowled. “I’m not blind. Three.”

It was four.

“Okay,” Six Ear lied. “Now: what the hell were you thinking?!” he hissed.

“…”

“I mean, why the hell did you follow me?! You could’ve gotten killed! You almost _did_ get us killed! Ma got a chunk bitten out of her! Why the _hell_ did you not leave?!”

Shiho burst into tears.

The older monkey held his breath, all the anger and hysteria knocked out of him.

“Hey,” before he knew what he was doing, Six Ear reached out and, with a tenderness he didn’t know he had, wiped some of the tears away with his thumb, “don’t cry, it’s okay.” He cracked a smile, “We aren’t dead yet.”

The little monkey sniffed. “I guess.”

“I think it’s your dumb luck.”

“Or Ma.”

“…or Ma.”

Shiho leaned against his chest; his eyes red from tears. Six Ear stroked him softly on the head. “Where is she, anyway?”

“Her mother.”

“Oh.”

Stone monkey was silent for a long time, long enough for Six Ear to remember that he’s never silent. Not for long. Finally, he said: “Normal people have mothers, don’t they?”

“ _Normal people_ ,” Six Ear spat, suddenly agitated, “are boring.”

Normal people don’t come from rocks. Normal people don’t befriend tigers instead of running from them. Normal people don’t have six ears that could hear many hundreds of _li_ away.

Then he caught an idea. “We could be brothers.”

Stone monkey frowned, “You weren’t born out of a rock though.”

He might as well have.

“No, I mean, not _born_ brothers, obviously. We could swear Brotherhood.”

The smaller monkey’s eyes glowed in the dim light, shining with a hesitant excitement that fueled Six Ear more than anything else, “What’s that?”

“If we’re sworn brothers,” Six Ear explained, “We’ll promise to look out for one another, no matter what. And we won’t need anybody else, because-“ He was tired of being alone. “Because we’ll have each other.”

Shiho looked up at him. Six Ear held his breath. There it was again, that look that Six Ear could finally place, the one that made him feel impossibly light. A look of pure, unbridled admiration. It was selfish, he didn’t deserve any of it, couldn’t possibly phantom what could’ve done to earn it, but at that moment Six Ear wouldn’t dare let it go.

“Okay. Let’s do it.” Shiho smiled nervously, “How do we do it?”

By Six Ear’s instruction, they stole a dagger from one of the older monkeys, and together, they slit open their palms. Holding hands, they let their blood mix into one. Six Ear picked up the coconut shell they’d used as a vessel, their blood staining the water within. The moonlight fell on his face, casting shadows over his features so that he looked much like the demon they both were. “Now we drink it.”

Shiho made a face. “Gross.”

Despite that, the little monkey practically yanked the vessel out of the other monkey’s hands, drinking it down greedily, as if it would offer some kind of secret power to him if he consumed it fast enough. “Now what?” he asked, tossing the vessel away.

“I…think we’re done.”

“You think?”

“From what I heard,” Six Ear folded his arms, “contrary to popular belief, I don’t know _everything_.”

“Whose popular belief?” Stone Monkey muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” then the little monkey grinned, his eyes shining mischievously, “Older Brother.”

“See,” Six Ear pointed at the sky, adopting the air of someone important, “now you have to give me respect.”

“No…”

“Hah! I tricked you!”

“ _Nooooo!”_

“You can gather my food for me!”

“ _Absolutely not_.”

Around them, the crickets prolonged their nighttime symphony, draining out the sound of the two chittering young monkeys, the only witnesses to their taken oath. And perhaps their happiness could have lasted centuries, perhaps they would’ve lived their lives side by side, their bond unbreakable. Perhaps that would have been a better story.

But that is not this story.


	2. Chapter 2

They shuffled through the sand, the waves lapping at their heels, cool and pleasant compared to the scorching rays of sunlight burning away the rest of the island. These latest heat waves had been bad for the monkeys, some of the younger ones getting sick even in the shade. They came here often, just him and Shiho, the former to get away from the irritated crowd, the latter because he wanted to.

“So you can’t swim?” 

“I _wanna_ swim, it’s just,” Shiho looked at the sky, reluctant to admit he was bad at anything, “I sink to the bottom.”

“Have you, you know, tried _learning_?”

The younger monkey shoved him further into the water, “I did! I tried doing the motions Ma showed me, but it’s no use.”

“Oh no,” Six Ear teased, “how very tragic. Younger Brother has to live with being _bad_ at things.”

Suddenly, Six Ear’s mouth was filled with sand and saltwater, the splash soaking him from head to toe. Shiho giggled, the foot he’d used to kick up the water still hanging in the air. Six Ear sighed, wiping the sand from his eyes. They stung. “Okay. Well. I didn’t want to do this, but you’ve left me no choice.” Shiho stopped giggling, then shrieked as the older monkey pounced on him, poking him in the sides. He jumped back, spraying more water into the air.

“Liuer no! That’s-hehe not fair! Ha _ha_ \- Liuer come on!”

When the two had gotten tired of playing (Six Ear had gotten tired. Shiho had enough energy to fuel a Huaguo Shan-sized volcano) the stone monkey spotted something shining in the distance, and Six Ear had to avoid the wave of sandy water that the younger monkey kicked up, rushing toward whatever he had found. He picked up the object, examining it closely before bringing it back for Elder Brother to show. “Look! What do you think it is?”

He was now a lot closer to Six Ear’s height. The older monkey couldn’t phantom what it would be like if Shiho suddenly grew _taller_ than him. The object he held in his hands was made of bronze, a hollow cylinder with the bottom open, patterned with intricately carved designs that wrapped around the outer surface. The metal had long since oxidized in the water, dull green in color. Six Ear reached out to take it, and almost dropped it on his foot. It was _heavy_. He felt the vibrations it gave off, a deep pitch that traveled through his arms, soft enough so that only his ears could catch it. “It’s a bell,” he grunted, heaving it back to his brother.

Shiho seemed to handle it with no effort at all. “What’s that?”

Six Ear waved his hand. “It’s like…a thing humans make music with.”

“…Music?”

The monkey realized that neither Shiho, nor anyone else in their little flower-fruit monkey club had ever heard music before. He scurried over to the edge of the beach, leaving his younger brother standing in waves, water wrapping around his ankles and making him sink further into the sand, the weight of the bell tying him down. “H-hey! Liuer, come back!” The older macaque ignored him, choosing instead a long, heavy branch from the piles of debris, swinging it over his shoulder. “Put it down,” he ordered, gesturing at a dry patch of sand. 

Shiho blinked, put complied, and Six Ear swung the branch with all his strength. The bell gave off a long, loud gong, though its sound was quickly muffled by the sand it rested on. But that was enough. Shiho’s eyes shined, a small grin illuminating his face. Six Ear hid his own smug smile, the warmth spreading through his chest, bright and hungry.

His hearing kept getting better. He could reach the words of people hundreds of miles away, on distant shores and far off mountains. They were humans, who spoke in a very different language from their own, one that Six Ear had nevertheless over time gotten the hang of. He was a little proud of that. Shiho would pester him with questions about the outside world. He seemed to be fascinated by the humans, in a way even Six Ear had a hard time understanding. 

It was like this. Shiho would go around with some new idea, and Six Ear would be there, in time to stop him if it got out of hand. And in turn, the younger monkey would be there when Six Ear was in one of his _moods_ , when everything was too loud and all at once. He’d just sit there, close, waiting for his older brother to come back, and it was _nice._

Until Six Ear wasn't there in time to stop him.

“What’s going on? Where is everybody?” Six Ear tugged at Ba, and the other shrugged. 

“They all went lookin’ at where the stream is coming from.”

“The stream?” Six Ear frowned, glancing upward where the water cascaded over the top of the cliff. Huaguo Shan was steep, and while monkeys were generally good at climbing, the rushing current made it all the harder to not slip and fall. “Is _Shiho_ with them? “

Ba looked at him. “Ya know, ‘e’s not gonna fall to pieces the second you’re not there.” 

“Do you know how long they left?”

“…” Ba sighed, “You can probably catch up to them.”

When he got to the top, he paused. He always knew the fall was there, could always hear its rumbling echo, but seeing it was different. The missing monkeys sat at the edge of a cliff overlooking the waterfall. They stated at it, transfixed, holding a collective breath. And his brother was not in their midst. 

Six Ear grabbed ahold of Ma, pulling her away. “Where’s _Shiho_?”

She looked at him. And paused. “H-he jumped.”

His heart plunged in his chest. “He _what_?” 

“It was a bet.”

“A-,” his grip tightened, “how could you let him _do_ that?! How could you-!”

“Would you calm down?!” she shot back, jerking away, “I’m not his babysitter! He can do whatever he wants!”

“…” Six Ear took a step back, tugging at his ears. He was going to have to read a eulogy about that stupid idiot who couldn’t question half the shitty ideas in his head, and Six Ear wouldn’t even get to-

“You won’t _believe_ what I found.” 

Six Ear turned around, and there he was, Younger Brother, his drenched fur dripping on the rocks they were standing on. He was practically vibrating with excitement, his tail stitching, the biggest, dumbest grin engulfing his face. 

The older monkey practically tackled him, not caring as he got his own fur thoroughly soaked. Shiho tensed slightly in his grip, surprised. 

“Well?” Ma asked, impatient, “what did you find?”

The stone monkey started chattering excitedly, his brother’s arms still wrapped around his shoulders. It was something about a cave, with a castle and a bridge, about the dozens of perfectly made beds and bowls and things Six Ear paid very little attention too. “I’ll show you,” the monkey said, waving at them to follow him, “it’s not a far jump.”

Shiho pulled himself out of Six Ear’s grasp and leaped back through the water curtain. Ma, after very little deliberation, jumped in after him. The rest of the monkeys cautiously approached the fall. Some, bolder than others, followed suit. Six Ear hung back. He couldn't hear them over the noise of the water, and that made him very uneasy.

Suddenly, Shiho’s head popped out of the fall, and he jumped right in front of Six Ear, startling the rest of the stragglers. His arm, the fur dripping wet, took hold of the older monkey’s wrist. “What are you still doing here?” he laughed, “come on!” 

“In…there?” 

“Yes! Where else?” 

“…” It was hard not to give in.

Six Ear clutched his brother’s hand, and together, they jumped. After a rather awkward landing, the older monkey slowly opened his eyes and found himself standing in the middle of a large cavern. In front of them was an iron bridge, the waterfall curtain hanging behind them. Farther into the cave, pressed against the damp cavernous wall, was a large house. Moss stretched out around its walls, swallowed by vines and strange, colorful flowers. It seemed incredibly old, and very much empty. He looked to Shiho, but the monkey was already gone, running after the rest. Six Ear traced his fingers over the iron bridge, over the letters in the plaque beside it. Despite never laying eyes on a book, despite never knowing a single character, despite not being able to decode, word for word, what each one meant, Six Ear was able to read it perfectly, the meaning of the words coming to him like in a dream “Huh.”

The other monkeys had already occupied the house, overturned the chairs and tables, moved around and stacked the stone bowls and utensils. When Six Ear entered the main hall they had already settled on every nook and cranny of the room. Shiho walked over and sat down on the large stone chair propped up against the far wall. His childish excitement was masked by a haughtiness and self-importance only he could muster. It fueled his lazy, spread-out slouch, and the slow swish of his tail. “Gentlemen!” he cried, “and ladies,” he added, when Ma snorted through her nose, “and others. A deal’s a deal.”

“What’s he talking about?” Six Ear whispered to Ma.

“The bet,” she whispered back.

“What bet? Ma, what’s going on?”

The monkeys chattered among themselves. Then, one of the older macaques stepped in front of Shiho and kowtowed. “My King,” he said.

Six Ear chocked. “What.”

The rest of the monkeys soon followed, dropping on their knees, resting their heads on the ground. Ma knelt too, a smile on her face. “My King.”

The Six-Eared Macaque locked eyes with his younger brother, who grinned, bright and mischievous. _“What.”_

The tribe of monkeys quickly assimilated themselves, making do with the things in the cave that were left behind. Shiho took great delight in his new status, taking on a name of “The Handsome Monkey King”, which, okay. He quickly assigned each of his subjects their rightful tasks. Water Curtain Cave protected them from predators and other demons. Living in a house, Six Ear had to admit, was much better than hunkering down in the tops of trees every night, exposed to the elements. 

“The King of the Monkeys, huh?” Nuan smiled, lying curled up on a bed of moss, her gleaming coat soaking up the sunlight. “Congratulations.” The Monkey King leaned against her side, playing with a golden broach they’d found in the cave, its shape resembling a large insect. 

Six Ear sat a safe distance away, on a branch that cast a pleasant shadow on the forms of his companions. The tigress raised her head to look at him, her pupils shrinking in the sunlight. “And is he doing well?”

Six Ear shrugged. “Good enough.” He was doing more than well. The monkeys were happy, safe, and more cooperative than ever. There was not one of them left behind, not one of them who wasn’t occupied with a task they took pleasure in doing. His brother was good at ruling. But.

To him, The Handsome Monkey King was still _Shiho_ . And seeing the people they’d grown up with following him without a word, throwing praises left and right felt downright _uncomfortable_.

“Hear that?” Nuan turned back to the younger monkey, “ _'Good enough’_. High praise.”

Shiho waved her off. “From him? Yeah it is,” he grinned at Six Ear, and the older monkey couldn’t help but smile back.

It would be alright. Shiho could play King all he wanted, and the apes could follow his example, and nothing would have changed. They were still _them_. It would be alright.

And it was, for a while. The Monkey King, already used to talking his brother’s advice on most things, had happily continued to do so. Six Ear’s hearing grew stronger every day, and with it, his knowledge of things beyond their little island. He knew how to start a fire, how to cook their food, how to make wine, what each of the little trinkets they kept finding in the depths of the house were used for. 

The Monkey King would throw large feasts for his subjects, filled with food and drink and flowers and loud, _loud_ laughter. The older monkey may have- well. He may have avoided those parties. And not just because it left his ears ringing long after they would end. Shiho was one of those that liked talking to people, other people, and Six Ear wasn’t good at conversations with anyone really, least of all anyone that wasn’t his brother. At least one of them seemed to be happy.

And then one night their King, thoroughly drunk and head filled with unreadable thoughts, had suddenly burst into tears in front of his subjects. The monkeys crowded around him, asking what was wrong, and getting no discernable answer. And, as if on queue, there was the Six-Eared Macaque, pushing past the crowd, and kneeling in front of their King, carefully wiping the tears off his face. “Calm down, _Shiho_. What’s wrong? You’re scaring all of them.”

“ _Liuer_ ,” the monkey sniffed, hiccupping before leaning against his shoulder, whispering like it was a secret, “ _we’re all gonna die_.”

“Yes?”

“That’ss _terrible…”_

He held down a bark of laughter. “It is.”

“I don’t _wanna_ die,”

“We’re not dying now, are we? We’ve got everything we need here,” he listed the items on his fingers, “food, shelter, security. If we’re going to die, it’s not gonna be anytime soon, trust me.”

Shiho shook his head, and leaned into Six Ear’s chest, breath heavy with alcohol. Very fitting of his brother to start dabbling in philosophy when he was drunk out of his mind. Six Ear rolled his eyes in begrudging affection. Even if what his brother said was true, he didn’t very much care. So what if they would die? So would any mortal creature on this earth, sooner of later. He was content to spend whatever life he had left here, with the only person that really mattered.

Maybe not when he was ugly crying on his shoulder, though. Six Ear’s lackluster social skills gave him very little hint on how to handle this without embarrassing both of them in front of his brother’s many subjects.

And then the crowd parted, and Old Jing stepped forward, his mere presence drawing everyone’s attention, like moths to a flame. “My King,” he said, a smile on his face, “asking these questions, thinking so far ahead, it must be the start of Enlightenment.”

Six Ear raised an eyebrow. The Monkey King stopped sniffling.

The old macaque continued, “there are three beings that don’t submit to the laws of life and death,” he turned to Six Ear, “your brother knows what they are.” 

“Well?” Shiho demanded, suddenly looking a lot more sober, “what are they?”

The Six-Eared Macaque sighed, “The Buddhas, Immortals, and Sages,” he said slowly, “they don’t ever have to die.”

The stone monkey had an intense look on his face, one that Six Ear had trouble reading. “And where do they live?”

“You’re assuming I know everything.”

“ _Liuer._ ”

“In Heaven,” the older monkey deadpanned, “or in the human world. Far from here.”

Then the Monkey King stood up from his throne, so suddenly Six Ear teetered backwards “That’s it! I’ll go find them and learn immortality.” He put struck his fist in his hand, “I’ll go tomorrow.”

Shiho grinned proudly at his little raft, one that he and the rest of the monkeys had put together overnight. To him, it looked like the path to something great. To Six Ear, it looked ready disintegrate as soon as hit a rough patch of water. “Why won’t you let me come with you?”

The Monkey King put his hands on Six Ear’s shoulders. They were the same height now. How had Six Ear just noticed that? “They need you here. Besides,” his grin turned cheeky, “you’d fall off the second a strong breeze comes by. And then who’ll fish you out?”

“You.” Six Ear cracked a smile that soon faded, worry overtaking his heart, “they don’t need me, you know that. But you do.”

Shiho’s grin slipped off his face.

“You know. With my hearing, you’d find your Immortal in no time.”

The Monkey King shook his head, “I have to do this myself, Liuer.”

“Then- then just let me guide you! Tell you where to go! I bet I can hear where-”

“No, I told you-”

“Ha, are you trying to prove something or are you just stupid?! Why won’t you let me-”

“ _Liuer!_ ”

The monkey fell silent. The waves gently rubbed against their shins, pulling, pulling.

“I’m going. That’s it.” Shiho relaxed his fingers, nails digging into Six Ear’s fur, and stepped away. He took a breath. “I’ll be back.”

Six Ear’s brow furrowed. “Fine,” he finally spat, stepping back from the water, “go.”

Shiho paled. “Liuer, wait…”

“You wanted me to leave? I’ll leave.” The older monkey threw his hands up, smiling. 

“Liuer, come on-”

But Six Ear didn’t answer, didn’t turn back. It was petty, he knew that. A small, sad part of him had hoped that Younger Brother would drop everything, run after him and say _of course you’re coming!_ Or better yet _I’ve changed my mind. This quest was stupid anyway._

But Younger Brother didn’t run. He just stood there and let him leave.

With their king gone, Water Curtain Cave turned into a collective of many different clans, each clan helping itself while very rarely relying on the others. Six Ear left the cave behind, spending his time lurking in the treetops below. It was stupid. The cave protected them from any bird or beast, from the elements, from the harsh aspects of the seasons. And yet, his bitterness won out. When any of the monkeys strayed in his path, he scurried past them, so that the only hint of him was a rustle in the weeds.

“Hiding, are we?” 

It was Nuan that found him, smiling, her tail swishing, her large canines peaking through the top of her lip. He really needed to find another tree. 

His initially harsh reply died in his throat. “Yeah,” he said instead, and tucked his head in his arms. 

“Come down.”

“I don’t _want_ to.”

“I never asked if you did, now, did I?”

He sent her a glare. “Look, _His Royal Majesty_ isn’t here, okay? So. You can leave.”

Her smile evened out. “I’m not here to see your brother. I’m here to see _you_. Now,” she said, with more confidence than before. “come down.”

Six Ear sighed, lowering himself, branch by branch, his two feet touched the ground. “If now’s the time you’ve chosen to eat me, I have to say, I haven’t had anything in, uh, a week? Maybe? You’ll want to fatten me up a bit first.”

The tigress rolled her eyes. Then she reached out and with one heavy paw swiped him into a hug. Six Ear froze, his hands pressed between his chest and her shoulder. She was…warm. Very warm. Her fur tickled his nose. He wanted to curl up there and just…never let go. 

Then she took her paw off his back. She looked almost embarrassed. “I had heard…monkeys prize physical affection.”

“I don’t. Usually. I mean. It’s complicated.” He sniffed, turned away. “You weren’t terrible at it or anything.”

“You miss him quite a lot, don’t you?” He froze. Oh how easily she could read him. “And yet, you resent him. Why?”

“Why? _Why_ ?!” he burst out, his hands clenching into fists, “he _left_ us. He left his kingdom! He left-” 

“He will come back. In due time.”

“You don’t _know_ that.”

“No. But I _trust_ him.” She smiled again; this time sad. “Your brother was always a tenacious little beast. He will get what he wants, and he will come back. That, I am sure of.”

Liuer looked down at his feet. The sea of what-ifs that overloaded his brain parted a little, and a part of him dared hope that Nuan was right. But it all came flooding back soon enough, and he had to wade through the _what if his boat capsized_ and _what if the humans had caught him and eaten him_ and _what if he got sick and died_ and _what if-_ Being angry was a lot easier than being patient. 

“You have a tendency-” Nuan started again, working harder now to find the right words, fishing him out of his temporary misery, “to push people away, when you’re hurting. I’ve done my fair share of that.” She took a staggering breath. “And look where I am now.”

“Surrounded by monkeys.”

She laughed. “I suppose.”

“I get what you’re trying to do, really I do,” he sighed, “but I’m not _Shiho_ . I don’t- You can’t _get_ me with some profound, clever words. I can’t go home, I _can’t_.”

“Can’t, or won’t? Are you angry with the rest of your kind, as well?”

He was always angry. “Doesn’t matter. They don’t need me anyway.”

“Is that what you want?” 

Six Ear froze, fur bristling in embarrassment. But before he could leap back onto the tree, far away where he wouldn’t need to look her in the eye, Nuan spoke again, this time firm, a voice that rooted him to the spot and got him to listen. “Then I will tell you, little monkey, what I know. It is your brother who needs you. He needs you to stay with the rest of your kind, to take care of them in his absence. He trusts you to do just that. And I will also tell you this: there is nothing I have seen quite like the admiration your _Shiho_ has for you. You cling on to that hurt, but does it mean so much to you that you would let him down?”

“I..” he swallowed and looked away. A well of shame opened up, a feeling he was quite familiar with. The tiger demon smiled. She knew she had won.

“Why?” he asked suddenly.

“’Why…’?” 

“Why do you think…why do you think he’s like that? What’s there about me to admire? I never did anything worthy. It was all…it was all him.”

“Hmm,” the tigress looked away, her gaze piercing. “To be honest, I don’t know.”

“Gee, thanks.”

That stung more than he’d expected. 

She turned to look at him. “Whatever it is, your brother can see it.” she got up suddenly, shaking off the grasses that clung to her pelt. “I do hope he’s right.”

So he went back. It wasn’t great, exactly. There was no open embrace to run into, nobody welcomed him with tears in their eyes. It was like most of the monkeys had already forgotten about his presence entirely. But he stayed, and he listened: for dangers, for storms, for safe places to forage. For his brother, he stayed. Years passed. The apes got on, skillfully handling themselves throughout the seasons.

During dark, sleepless nights, when the rest of his kind had all retired, Six Ear would sit at the edge of the cave, near the water curtain, and search. For any human whose language he understood, for any demon, anyone, really, to mention a monkey and his ridiculous quest for immortality. To know that he was, at least, alive. 

And then he finally found him.

_“Master, master! Yesterday, in your lecture, you said that-”_

_“Wukong, what did I tell you? Don’t speak before you’ve thought it through.”_

_“But I_ have _thought it through, and master-”_

Shiho was…learning. Being taught by an Immortal whose voice carried an air of dignity and poise not found in any monkey.

His brother was alive. He was alive and well, rattling off concepts that Six Ear had a hard time translating, speaking perfectly in the human tongue, surrounded by people whose voices were too clear to be mortal, acting the same carefree and irritating way he always did. He seemed perfectly happy.

Six Ear breathed, pulling himself up on his shaking limbs, overwhelmed by a flood of emotion so tight that he couldn’t help but curl up at, eyes damp. Shiho was fine. He was thousands of miles away, but he was _fine_.

Once found, their voices stood out in the sea of gibberish that was the rest of the world. Six Ear would spend long, sleepless nights, listening to his brother babble about this and that, learning the names of the people that surrounded him. The master’s name was Puti. The other disciples he quickly forgot about, filing them away as unimportant. 

_“Master, master! I’ve learned the spell you’ve taught to me!”_

_“Keep your voice down! You mustn’t let anybody else know I am teaching you like this.”_

_“Sorry.”_ Six Ear couldn’t help but smile. He wasn’t sorry at all.

At first, he’d mistaken the master's irritation for mere tolerance, or even ill will. It took a while for him to realize that what he was hearing was that same familiar, smothering fondness that often permeated his own vocal chords when his brother was around. Shiho had wormed his way into his master’s heart the same way he did everyone else’s: tenaciously, insistently, and completely unintentionally. 

Six Ear would stay up each night, listening to their voices, until they, like the rest of his surroundings, melted into a soft haze, background noise against the rushing of the water. When he would sleep, the gentle buzz of his brother’s voice, thousands of _li_ away, chasing him in his unconscious, was the only sound that really mattered.

Shiho stayed in Cave of the Slanted Moon and Three Stars, learning the Way from his master. Never patient, the monkey would devour the knowledge given to him like a man dying of hunger. Six Ear noticed the little things. The fond mutters under master Puti’s breath, when he thought no one could hear him. The admiration thickly coating his brother’s voice every time Master took notice. It felt…wrong, somehow. To listen to that. 

Sun Wukong. That was the name that Immortal had given him. Six Ear hated it with every fiber of his being. 

“What do you mean, missing?” Ma’s harsh, raspy voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Six Ear left his bed and placed an ear against the door. He could hear Ma, and some other monkeys whispering nervously amongst themselves. 

“Five of them now, Ma! They’re just…gone. We’ve searched the cavern but couldn’t find any trace of them anywhere.”

“Bah! They’re too young to leave on their own.”

“Perhaps they’ve been…eaten?”

He could hear Ma grunt. “No animal is smart enough to know what’s beyond this waterfall. Unless-”

“Unless it was a demon.”

All three heads turned. Six Ear stood awkwardly in the doorway, waiting for them to realize he’d been listening in the whole time. Ma’s nostrils flared at the sight of him. She marched up, teeth bared, and Six Ear instinctively backed away, his gaze trailing elsewhere, “The children missing: have you heard anything? Do you know where they are?”

“No?”

She growled, and the two monkeys behind her jumped back. “You were supposed to be the lookout! What happened to that, huh?”

To tell the truth, he was. It wouldn’t have been hard for him to notice a couple of children’s voices missing, or foreign footsteps prowling around the cave, or someone parting the waterfall to get in. But most of his attention was half a world away. People could have called Six Ear’s name, and he never would have noticed. “I was busy.”

“Busy with what, huh?!”

He considered telling her. Later. “Just…busy.”

“Well,” she grabbed him by the arm. He scowled, tried to twist out of her grip, but it was no use, “you can be busy _after_ you help me find them.”

Six Ear ducked as another branch flew past his face, bouncing back to hit him upside the head. “What gives?!” he snapped at Ma, whom he was sure was doing it on purpose. “I thought you’d be glad. He’s not dead. Hell, I can tell you now, he’s pretty damn happy! Happier than us, at least, that’s for sure. Ow!” He stumbled, rubbing his nose where it'd been struck by the fern Ma has so graciously moved aside for herself. “What was that for?!”

Ma sighed, long and loud, rolling her eyes to the sky. “Half a world away, and you’re _still_ hovering over him.”

He stared at the mossy ground. “At least _I_ didn’t fuck off to follow some immortal hermit.”

“Do…do you even hear yourself, sometimes? You’ve got so many ears, surely you must.”

Six Ear growled.

“You can’t still be sensitive about that,” Ma smiled, “come on, we’re not children anymore. Shouldn't you have grown out of that by now? I mean, even I-”

“Shh!” He jumped up, ears twitching. He could hear someone.

They were demons. Their voices shrank and rose like the tide, a cacophony for chaotic sounds not unlike the monkey shrieks and growls he was familiar with. He followed them, his head swiveling from side to side as he caught more and more of their conversation. Ma was eerily quiet. The only thing that gave away her nerves was the tenseness in her shoulders. 

They were about 50 _li_ north. 

_“Great. Now I have monkey hair on my clothes.”_ One of them complained.

_“Why don’t you tell the Boss all about it instead of wasting my time?”_

_“You don’t have to be rude-”_

“I can hear them,” Six Ear said to Ma, straightening his shoulders. Then he grinned, “but they can’t hear us.”

That’s when he noticed the other noise, soft and faint, something prowling through the grass behind them. It had stopped when they did, and only a hint of a breath gave it away. He should’ve been afraid then, but this presence felt familiar. Warm, even. As much as a sound could be warm.

He led the two of them through the undergrowth, keeping track of the arbitrary chatter of the two demons. Shiho would’ve loved this. The danger, the stakes, everything. In the past, this would’ve made Six Ear’s fur stand on end with dread. But now, he couldn’t help but imagine his brother, creeping beside them, excited and unafraid. The thought made Six Ear feel a little bit braver. 

They’d travelled until nightfall. From beyond the treetops a rose a mountain much larger than their own, its top dusted with snowy white powder. Ma froze, her eyes travelling toward the summit, gaping at the sheer volume of it all. Six Ear rolled his eyes. It was a mountain. You lived in a secret cave behind a waterfall in a mountain once, you’ve seen them all. 

Ahead of them stretched a small clearing. They could see the demons at center of it, casting shadows on the rocky, overgrown surface of an edging cliff, flanking the entrance of a large cave. The demons looked no bigger than them, hunched over and leathery. They wore clothes, pieces of cloth they tied around their arms and waists. In their claws they held weapons. Spears. With the trees obscuring the two monkeys, it was easy to sneak closer. 

Six Ear turned to Ma, whispering, “So? What’s the plan, then?”

She scowled, “I’m supposed to have a plan?”

“I got us here! Why do I have to do everything?”

“Shh!” They both crouched down as the two demons perked up at the noise, their eyes skirting over shadows. 

“Can you hear the children?” Ma asked, her breath inches away from one of his ears. Six Ear resisted the urge to shrug her off.

“No,” he said, “but I can hear more demons! In that cave. And something else. Bigger.” A voice deeper, louder, barking orders at the underlings chittering under him. Their king. Presumably. They would have to be careful. Ma picked up two pinecones at her feet, weighing each of them in her palms. “What are you doing?”

“A plan.” Then she flung one of the pinecones at the head of the smaller guard. The demon squawked in surprise and covered his head. 

“ _What was that?”_ The two guards whirled around, squinting every which way. In the moonlight, their faces glistened with sweat, illuminating their numerous wrinkles. Creatures without fur on their backs were kind of…gross.

“ _Look!”_

Ma flung the other pinecone to the side, ruffling the bushes ways away from them, and causing a racket as it hit a nearby tree trunk. The guards hurried over to where it landed, and Ma took off, not bothering to see if he followed. Six Ear sighed, and leaped after her. They sprinted through the cave entrance. Guided only by the torches in the wall, Ma and Six Ear moved quickly and quietly, the latter keeping track of the enemy voices. They came across two pathways. The right one lead to the shrieking jeers of demons. The left one was silent. Six Ear chose silence over potential death. 

They snuck into what looked like a treasure trove. Coins lay scattered on the ground, some of the splattered in blood. Tattered clothes, expensive clothes, shining jade trinkets, things Six Ear did not know the words for filled the room, some propped against the damp cave walls, gathering up moisture and dust. They really needed to take better care of their loot. 

“Liuer, look!” Ma pointed in the far corner of the room, where they could see the sandy-haired bodies of the small monkeys, piled on top of each other. She darted over to them, Six Ear close behind. They weren't breathing.

The children were all dead, their necks twisted by some crude force. Six Ear stared into the glassy eyes of the smaller one, before turning away. He didn’t know what he’d expected. 

Ma clutched a hand to her mouth, shaking. 

Through the dead stillness of the room, he could hear the two guards they’d seen outside, and a voice deeper, larger, darker than any of theirs.

“ _There’s someone here, Boss.”_

_“W-we didn’t find anything, though, too dark to see.”_

“Ma,” he whispered, tugging at her hand, “Ma, we need to go.”

He pried the other macaque away, heading for the exit. He could hear the demons whispering among themselves, moving around. They needed to get out of there, fast. They couldn’t do that if Ma kept dragging her feet.

“Do you want me to leave you here?!” he hissed, his grip hard.

She looked at him, then. “Do you?”

They both froze. “S-stop talking nonsense and let’s go already, okay? You couldn’t have done anything. So quit doing…whatever you’re doing and let us _leave_.”

They were just past the entrance when Six Ear heard a shriek of metal. behind him. He grabbed Ma and topled to the ground, the edge of a blade whistling over his head, shaving off a few hairs from his body. He looked back.

The demon was much larger than the others, his weight cracking the earth below, adorned with heavy-looking black metal armor that was so well polished it gleamed even at night. His sword was maybe twice Six Ear's length, it's wicked sharp edge resonating in the air in a way that made Six Ear's fur stand on edge. He grinned, the red markings on his face burning in the darkness. They were going to die. 

The sword whistled as he swung.

Then there was a screech, a thunderous roar, and the Demon King of Havoc toppled back as two enormous jaws locked onto his arm, making him drop his weapon. Six Ear’s eyes were met with bright stripes, the kind he recognized instantly. 

The two demons grappled with each other, one bleeding from his newly made wound, the other nimbly dodging his firsts before going for another strike. “ _Run!”_ Nuan roared, her voice layered with fear and desperation. In all the years they’d known each other, Six Ear had never once seen her be afraid of anything. “ _You stupid little monkeys, run!”_

The Demon King of Havoc laughed, gathering himself. He was three times bigger, Nuan would never take him.

“Come on!” Ma gripped his arm, and Six Ear finally found his footing, skittering after her, disappearing in the undergrowth before any of the smaller demons landed a hit.

He heard the roars as the two enormous opponents battled it out. Nuan’s desperate breathing, the demon’s mocking laughter. Then a crack. And then, silence. 

They found her body the next morning, dumped in front of Water Curtain Cave, mangled and broken. The monkeys looked for him, tried to find a way to tell him, but there was no need. Six Ear could hear the laughs and jeers of the demons long before they’d reached the base of the mountain.

The apes had left him alone, knowing better than to try to comfort him. Six Ear knelt down next to her, stroking her pelt with the tips of his fingers.

“ _L_ _ook where I am now.”_

“ _Surrounded by monkeys_.”

“ _I suppose.”_

He kneeled over her, stifling a wail, the petered out into something long, thin, small, and broken. He buried himself in her side, letting the sobs get swallowed by whatever was left of her. In was loud, it was ugly, whatever had broken through the wall he’d put up. That day, it felt like the whole world was melting around him, emerging as the sounds coming from his throat. He sobbed until there was nothing left to give. He sobbed until he couldn’t feel anything anymore. Was too tired to. He sobbed until he didn’t, and then lay next to her, curled up into a small, dirty ball, letting the dust settle in a thick layer over his coat. He felt like a child again, clinging to one of the only people who’d made him feel like he wasn’t alone.

The monkeys helped him bury the tiger’s body, near the foot of the mountain. The Demon King of Havoc let his message ring clear. So when they came again, those leathery little demons, the monkeys had turned away, leaving the mothers alone, clinging to their crying children. They were taken away one by one, and any monkey that resisted was killed without mercy. They stole food, water, supplies. Ma’s anger burned brighter than ever, only restrained by Old Jing’s pleading tone. _Please, Ma, we mustn’t lose you, too._

He could hear their cries all the way from the northern mountain. He’d learned to ignore them. 

Half of him was living across two continents, anyway.

He heard it, then. Puti, finally angry at his brother’s arrogance, banishing him for good. Shiho, pleading to let him stay, pay back what he was given, swallowing his shame. 

“ _Go home.”_

“ _But…where would I go?”_

Six Ear’s breath froze. **Where would he** **_go_** **?**

“ _Back where you came from.”_

The monkey had stopped listening, blood boiling behind his ears. _What did he mean, where would he go?_

Nuan had warned him. Had told him to not let his brother down, not bothering to ask if the Monkey King had, in turn, let them both down in their stead.

It hurt. The anger within him sparked anew.

He heard the news, though it did not faze him. _Our King came back,_ they cried, rushing to greet their ruler, tears streaming down their faces. By then the cave had long lost its former glory, the monkeys shackled in the demon king’s tight grasp. Shiho locked eyes with Liuer, a question on his younger brother’s lips. He looked haggard, lost, and the anger inside Liuer stirred even greater. 

The Monkey King was pulled away by Ma, who told him everything, her tired, harsh voice not hard to hear above all the others. Old Jing had said something, then, and Shiho’s lost little gaze turned furious.

Six Ear didn’t worry about the outcome of the battle. With what he’d heard his brother learn, the Demon King of Havoc was no match for the monkey. He came away victorious, the children, and whatever supplies were stolen safe in his grasp. The monkeys cheered. Ma’s admiration fueled her voice in a way that was almost embarrassing. Old Jing sounded proud. Amid the commotion and celebration, it was easy to sneak out without being noticed. 

And then night fell, and the cheering and the party was over, the apes long since asleep, scattered around the castle. Liuer snuck back in, shaking the water out of his drenched fur. 

He came face to face with the last person he wanted to see.

“So,” Shiho said, leaning against the iron plaque, arms folded in front of him, staring casually at his nails, “where’ve you been? Don’t tell me 20 years was not enough to get over whatever grudge you were having.”

Liuer flinched. His hands fisted at his sides.

Seeing his reaction, Shiho stopped whatever air he was putting on, straightening up, his gaze softening. “Elder brother...” Well. He never used _that_ unless he wanted something from him. “Come on, let’s just go home, okay?” He reached out his hand. Some dumb, old impulse told Liuer to take it. 

“Nuan is dead.”

The small smile Shiho was holding dropped like a ton of lead. The hand froze. “W-what?”

“Oh, didn’t you hear?” Liuer looked him in the eye, his own glassy. Every reaction he’s seen his brother take suddenly felt so overwhelmingly _boring_. “She died. A few months ago. That demon, the one you so graciously defeated? He killed her.”

Shiho’s eyes darted around, piercing, looking for something, anything that would make what he said a lie. Liuer wanted to laugh. The younger monkey strode closer, feet moving on their own accord, reaching out. A hand clutched Liuer’s own. “You’re _lying_ , tell me you’re lying, Liuer-”

He was cut off by a dry, humorless chuckle. Liuer backed away, wrenching himself from his brother’s grip, a hand on his face. “You- _haha_ , you actually _thought_ …” He was done. “That, that, what, you could take your sweet time in the human world, gallivanting with Immortals and whatnot, and we, what? Would all still be here? Just like you’d left, hands folded, waiting for _our precious king_ to come back? Twiddling our thumbs? So sorry to disappoint, little brother, but that’s not how it _works_ ”

Shiho flinched. Ohm how satisfying that was. The words carried on, dripping past his lips like poison. “I’ve had a long 20 years, and you know what I’ve realized? None of this actually matters, does it? Not the mountain, not your kingdom, and certainly not me. You’d trade all of us in a heartbeat if it means _getting what you want_.”

He wanted to say more. Liuer wanted to spit the name of the man his brother had so devoutly called Master, to show his promise to the Immortal could never be fulfilled. Liuer wanted to twist in every little hurt he could find, because he deserved to feel even an inch of what Liuer had felt, all these years, of waiting, and begging, and wondering.

But he was tired. “Go home, _Shiho._ Do us both a favor and leave. Me. Alone.” With that, the Six-Eared Macaque turned around and leapt through the fall. He thought about the wounded look on his brother’s face, the look of someone who’d for the first time, truly lost something. 

It made Liuer feel powerful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wukong: :D  
> Liuer: >:[  
> Wukong: D:
> 
> Once again thank you Idonquixote for helping with this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

The Demon Bull King reached out, and, with one fell swoop, downed the wine the Roc King had poured for him. “Younger Brother,” he smiled, eyes burning with drunken glee, “show us this weapon you’ve been so adamant about.”

Wukong grinned and reached into his ear, pulling out the gold-tipped needle for all his new brothers to see. They all gathered around, huddling closer to take a peek. The demon lair quieted for just a moment, even the servants’ heads collectively turning as the needle shone with a dim golden light. There were murmurs of wonder and awe, making the monkey feel slightly giddy. Not without some flair, he flicked his wrist, and the needle grew until it was as wide as a rice bowl, twice as tall as himself. “Ta-da~”

The Lion King whistled. The Macaque King dropped the cup he was holding. Somewhere in the cave, a faint clink of coin, accompanied with a loser’s grumbling, was heard.

The Demon Bull King raised an eyebrow. “It’s resizable.”

“Eh,” Wukong waved a hand, hiding the staff back in his ear, much to the disappointment of the onlookers. “You don’t get it. It was propping up the seafloor for thousands of years, until it called to me. No one else could lift it.”

“Ha!” the Lion Demon King put down his cup, the table rattling from the force of it. “What makes you so special?”

Wukong eyed him, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “Wanna try?”

When the other agreed, the brothers made space in the middle of the room, and Wukong gently put down the staff, its end balancing perfectly on the uneven stone floor. The Lion Demon King pulled up his sleeves, taking hold of the staff with both hands. He tried to heave it upward, but to no avail. The staff stood still, unmovable, unyielding to anyone but its rightful owner.

Incredulous, several of the brothers lined up behind him, eager to try their hand at wielding the _Ruyi Jingu Bang_. The Macaque King pulled so hard he catapulted over the table, spilling the extravagant dishes the Bull King’s subjects had prepared for them. After they had all tired out, Wukong smirked, and, with no effort at all, grabbed the staff with one hand, balancing it on the tip of his finger before flipping it, catching it in his palm. It shrank down and was once more safely tucked in his ear. 

Someone laughed, someone else made a joke, and the cave was once more in an uproar. It lasted through the night, each brother taking immense pleasure in the company of the others. Wukong laughed alongside them, loud and unapologetic, and his drunken mind briefly forgetting that anyone was missing at all.

When the Monkey King had flown back to Water Curtain Cave, he found Liuer standing in front of the waterfall, looking expectant. The monkey must have heard him approaching hundreds of _li_ away. Wukong felt a bit uneasy at the thought.

He landed on the grassy ridge that overlooked the thundering waterfall, droplets landing on his already ruffled fur. Liuer scowled. He didn’t look Wukong in the eye. “So you finally show up. I thought you would be too busy with those new brothers of yours.”

Wukong’s brain made several connections. First, that Liuer hadn’t been back in Water Curtain Cave in months, and no monkey had seen a hair of the Six-Eared Macaque since the night he’d left. Second, that Liuer knew of the demon rulers and friends Wukong had sworn Brotherhood with. Third, that if those two statements above were true, this whole time Liuer has been spying on him.

Wukong swallowed a thick lump in his throat. He had no idea what else the Six-Eared Macaque could know. 

Out loud, he said: “What do you want, an apology?”

Liuer sneered. Wukong stiffened. He had no idea why his brother’s anger had that effect on him. The older monkey’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked him up and down. “I’ve heard the Bull Demon King throws great parties.”

They both knew how easy it was for Liuer to get under his skin. “Look,” he spat, surprised at his own tone, “you can do whatever you want, I don’t care. But don’t go and lurk around like some stray dog. Either stay or leave.”

Liuer’s eyebrows rose high on his forehead. “Oh?” then he smiled, mocking, “whatever you say, oh King.”

“Fuck off.”

“That’s better.”

They fell into silence. They haven’t talked at all since _that_ day. 

“Liuer…” 

“Hm?”

 _I’m so sorry._ “Do you really wanna do this? Or can we just go home already?”

The older monkey gave him a long, hard look. “No, you’re right,” he finally said, “without me, you’d probably wreck your own kingdom.”

Wukong bristled but kept quiet. 

Liuer flicked his tail. “Can I see it?”

“What?” 

“The staff. The one you so skillfully acquired through extortion.”

So, he knew about his trip to the Dragon King's palace, as well. Wukong humored him, pulling the needle out of his ear. Its glow reflected off the surface of the water, crystal clear in the night.

“Huh,” Liuer looked impressed. It was embarrassing how easily that lifted Wukong’s spirits. “Nice.”

The Monkey King grinned. “It answered to me,”

“Good for you, then.” Liuer smirked, “does it talk to you in your sleep?”

“Fuck off.”

Liuer cackled, and for a second, Wukong let himself believe that they’d be alright.

The Monkey King took what he thought to be a nap and woke up in the World of Darkness. Well, could have been worse, really. After a few conversations, a few beatings, and a good amount of threats the Ten Kings had granted him access to the Register of Life and Death. After crossing out his name (out of the three calamities, his Master had never named alcohol poisoning, yet here they were) Wukong took his time crossing out the name of every single monkey he could find. He found Ma, and Old Jing, and Ba, and among them the many other apes, macaques and gibbons populating his kingdom. He found Liuer’s name, and, crossing it out, wondered if his brother would finally get over it.

He searched the records for Nuan. It was there, a tiger demon of nearly a thousand years of age. She’d lived a long life. Really, it was too late to do anything, she was already-

Wukong closed the book.

When he told the story to Liuer, all he did was laugh. “Sounds like some shitty immortality you got there, little brother.”

“I got out, didn’t I?” Wukong said. “The Underworld couldn’t keep me.”

“Couldn’t wait to get rid of you, I’ll bet,” Liuer muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” Liuer took a long, hard look at him. It was a heavy gaze. “Okay, but how do you know if this time you’re _actually_ immortal?”

“Hm,” the Monkey King looked around, before holding up his index finger to tell him to _wait_ . He somersaulted over Six Ear’s head, before appearing before him two seconds later, a _liúxīng chui_ in hand. He handed the chain to Six Ear who almost dropped it, cradling it like it was made of glass. “Hit me.”

“W-what?”

Wukong pointed at his forehead, grinning. “Hit me. Right here.”

“W- no! Are you out of your mind?!”

“As your King, I order you to hit me. Come on.”

“ _I’m not going to hit you on the head with a mace.”_

“Pshhh,” Wukong looked at the sky, disappointed, “you’re no fun.”

“ _Fun_ ?” Six Ear hissed, “you’re asking me to _commit regicide.”_

“And not because I’m your brother?” Wukong smirked. “That’s cold.”

“Believe me, you being my brother makes me _want_ to bash your brains out on a daily basis.”

“I second that opinion!” The voice boomed from the cave, and Liuer stiffened, his voice dying instantly. Out came the Bull Demon King, clambering through the water curtain. He was large enough where he didn’t need to leap as much as step onto the ledge the two were standing on. He seemed to be cheery, for someone that had passed out last night halfway through a wrestling match with Ma over the last mango. “Whose brains are we bashing?”

“Preferably yours,” Liuer whispered, loud enough for only Wukong to hear.

The Monkey King made a face. He would’ve laughed, but the venom in his brother’s voice was starting to get under his skin. “I’m asking Liuer to hit me, and he won’t do it.”

“Ah,” the large demon placed a giant hand on Liuer’s back, the same size as the monkey. The older macaque’s eyes went wide, as if surprised by the sheer audacity. Wukong didn’t know what his problem was. “Younger Brother, you must not let your friendship get ahead of your loyalty to your King.”

The Six-Eared Macaque growled out loud, and even the Bull King had enough sense to retract his arm. The monkey turned to him, craning his neck upward, his fangs on full display, fur standing on end: “I’m not your _any_ kind of brother. And he is not my King!”

“Uh, technically, I am.”

“Ugh, you know what I mean.”

“No, actually,” Wukong folded his arms, leaning forward, brow arched, “I _don’t_ know what you mean.”

Liuer sputtered, caught off guard, “You’re my brother,”

“Uh huh, and also your King. Now hit me.”

“I’m not. Going to hit you.”

At this point, Wukong was mostly going off an ‘I really wanna see what happens’ mentality. Which, truth be told, he had quite a weakness for. “Come _on_ , hit me. Or are you scared your bones will break?” 

“Shut. Up.”

“Then hit me!”

“No!”

“You look like you want to, anyway! Every day! So suck it up and just-”

Wukong did not get to finish that sentence. Because Liuer did hit him. Not with the meteor hammer, no. With his own fist. There was a crack, a scream of pain, and Wukong was a bit surprised, because it actually _hurt._ Off balance, he toppled backward, to the shock and horror of one brother, and the cow-like surprise of the other. “ _Shiho!”_

 _Huh. Liuer still called him that._ Was the monkey’s thought before he fell backwards off the ridge, and into the rushing stream below. 

He must have blacked out, because then when he opened his eyes again the other monkey was there, kneeling over him. “I didn’t know you could hit that hard!” was all he said, grinning as Liuer inspected his face. Inside, he felt a bit…shaky. He didn’t think any weapon could wound him. And this was his brother’s _fist_. 

“Your nose is bleeding,” Liuer remarked, wiping at it, then looked up at the edge of the cliff, where the Bull Demon was standing, giving them an awkward thumbs up. He was too large to climb down at the speed the monkey could. The drop was incredibly steep. “But hey, you’re not _dead_. So the immortality is working.”

“Ha ha.” Wukong shoved him off, suddenly irritated. He’d forgotten how weird Liuer got sometimes. “I’m fine. Never been better,” he paused, “unless you wanna go for another round.”

Liuer scowled. He shoved the younger monkey back down into the water. “Fine. Whatever.” Wukong chortled, and ignored the bitterness welling up in his throat.

That night, as the Monkey King was deep in the arms of a peaceful slumber, his apes much the same, two eyes watched him in the darkness, ears listening for even breath. Liuer crawled slowly over to his brother’s bed, the room dark and empty except for the small lantern light he’d brought. 

He watched as Shiho’s chest rose and fell in a slow rhythm, tired after a long night of celebration and drinks, in honor of their new immortality. Liuer thought of waking him up, of saying…something, at least. But the tension he felt was too great of even his brother to properly break, so how could he?

The Six-Eared Macaque sighed, turned to leave, when his tail brushed against the gold-tipped staff, and knocked it over.

Scrambling, the monkey caught it in his grip before it clattered to the ground. Shiho slept on, unaware of any sound. Liuer let out a sigh of relief, before his breath was once again taken away by a simple realization.

Blinking, the macaque gingerly lifted the _Jingu Bang_ off the ground. It felt like it weighed no more than a blade of grass, easily fitting into his shaking palms. 

Liuer turned it over in his fingers, his brain racing, then whispered the command he’d heard hundreds of times before. 

_Grow._

The staff grew until it was the thickness of a rice bowl, slightly taller than the monkey. He twisted it in his hands, a bit clumsy due to his lack of skill.

Liuer’s eyes gleamed in the darkness. 

“Ugh! He treats me like a child!” Wukong flung himself onto the makeshift throne, dangling his legs over one arm, head propped on the other. He let out a dramatic sigh, closing his eyes.

“Maybe if you stopped acting like one,” Ma came over and leaned on the back of the stone chair, elbows under her chin. “My King.”

“Oh, not you too.”

“Well, you’ve always valued my honesty.”

Wukong glared up at her. “Did I? Bah, never mind.” He pulled out the _Jingu Bang_ and twirled it in his palm unthinkingly. “It’s like it doesn’t matter what I do. He still expects something from me.” He sat up suddenly, staff leaning on his elbow, and held up his fingers. “Immortality? Check that off the list. Huaguo Shan’s defenses are better than ever, thanks to me. We have alliances from thousands of _li_ away, ready to come to our aid if I ever need them to. We’re the highest we’ve ever been, not just for demons, for _any_ Earth dwelling creatures. Hell, he gets to wear _clothes_ now.”

“Yes,” Ma remarked, her voice flat, “you did do all that.”

“Then _why,_ ” Wukong spat, “does he still have that sour look on his face?!” He threw his hands up, and the staff clattered to the ground, the impact so hard it spread cracks through the stone. two monkeys watched it for a moment, one sheepish, the other unimpressed. 

“Perhaps,” Ma finally stated, “you should _ask_ him.”

“He doesn’t _want_ to talk to me.”

“Does he plan on being angry with you forever?”

“Probably!”

Ma sighed. “I don’t know what you want me to say here. Your brother’s an…acquired taste. A taste I haven’t acquired. I couldn’t tell you how to deal with him better than you can, anyway.” She patted his head lightly. She was one of the few who could ever attempt to do so and stay alive afterwards.

“ _Ma!_ ” They both heard the voice, the word spoken in a high and drawn out sound, not quite like her own name. A child’s voice. A moment later a tiny macaque came clambering through the entrance, carefully avoiding the bowls and spilled food that occupied the floor of the main hall. Their little red-ish head popped up by the side of the chair. Ma hurriedly picked them up in her arms. “Xiao Dou, what are you doing here? Go play outside.”

“What’re you doing, mama?” 

“Talking.”

“About what?”

“Serious issues for grown-ups. Well,” she eyed her King cheekily, “mostly grown-ups.” Wukong made a face at her.

Xiao Dou looked down from their spot in their mother’s arms, as if just noticing the Monkey King himself lounging in the seat below. Wukong winked at them, and they smiled back, wiggling out of the embrace. Wukong caught them and propped them up with his feet, much to the delight of the small monkey. “Grandpa, did you really beat up the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea?”

“Nah,” Wukong drawled, “He was too much of a coward to fight me.”

The child nodded sagely. “Grandpa, are you going to fight that man?”

Both of them froze. “What man,” asked the Monkey King.

“The one standing under the mountain.” Xiao Dou chirped casually, “He looks very old. And rich. He says he’s here to see you.” 

Wukong exchanged a glance with Ma. “Show him to me.”

The man was the Great White Planet, one of the most honored Immortals in heaven, sent by the Jade Emperor himself to retrieve Sun Wukong and offer him a spot in his court. Heaven, so far, had been the one thing out of reach of the Monkey King’s grasp. To be offered the golden ticket, just like that, was almost like a fever dream. And yet, it was always bound to happen, wasn’t it? Wukong had finally accumulated enough power that the gods would be interested. 

“Bring us a souvenir or something,” Ma joked.

“This is a bad idea,” Liuer said.

All eyes present in the room turned toward him. “As in?” Wukong asked.

The macaque sighed, as if asked to explain to a bunch of children why not all fruit were edible. “You do realize they don’t actually want you, right? You’re just a demon to them. You probably got invited so they could keep tabs on you.”

Ma scowled. Wukong laughed. “You’re jealous.”

Six Ear waved him off. “No, no, by all means, go walk right into the game they’ve set up. Though, if you think you’re one of the players, you’re greatly mistaken.”

If there was one thing the Monkey King wouldn’t tolerate, it was a blow to his ego. Ma tensed, already used to such arguments. They’ve been happening more and more frequently, and if Wukong was being honest with himself, he’d say he felt guilty having her be in the middle. As always, his appointed general stepped back, her eyes darting from one macaque to the other. 

“You think you’re so fucking clever,” he spat. The fact that Liuer didn’t move an inch was infuriating. 

The older macaque shrugged. “I always thought _you_ were the clever one. If there’s a time you’d want to chose to listen to my advice, now would probably be it.” Then he stepped back, smiling humorlessly, “Of course, I don’t really care, to be honest. You can go and make a fool of yourself if you want.”

Even Ma balked at that. “Liuer…” she warned.

Wukong opened his mouth, temper blazing, when-

“King!” Ba scuttered into the room, the door flying open. At the angry gazes all three of them held, he backed away a bit, “Bad time?”

“Just spit it out!” Ma barked.

“O’, that old guy in the shiny clothes? ‘e’s still ‘ere. Says ‘e’s waiting on you, King.”

“Great! I’m off.” He said it a bit more forcefully than intended. 

As Wukong followed Ba out, a hand reached out and boldly grabbed his wrist. He froze. Everyone did.

“You’re making a mistake,” Liuer said quietly.

The Monkey King wretched it out of his grip. “I can think for myself, thanks.”

Twelve years would pass before any of them saw him again.

Thinking about it later, Wukong resented the fact that Liuer turned out to be right. But at the time, all he thought about was the humiliation in having found out he had taken the lowest rank available, that the gods, taking advantage of his naivety and eagerness to prove _something_ , had tricked him into being their stable boy. Well, he had made sure to be enough of an inconvenience that they would remember him. The horses he’d released trampled all over the delicately crafted gardens, ate through most of the greenery, knocked down minor Immortals that had been in their way, and caused such havoc that it almost satisfied the monkey's wounded pride. He darted back to his cave, angry and itching for a fight. 

And a fight he got. 

“ _Bimawen_ , huh?” Liuer’s sardonic grin was the last thing he wanted to see. “Not bad. Really. And here I was, worried that my little brother would be treated without honor of his skills! But the position does suit you. Tell me, did they have you shoveling their shit, too?”

There is a time when a person, any person, having been insulted far too many times, suddenly snaps, most likely disproportionately to the insult that acted as the tipping point. Wukong grabbed Liuer by the front of his collar, lifting him off the ground. “Shut. _Up_.”

Liuer blinked in surprise, then relaxed in Wukong’s grip. As angry as the Monkey King was, he knew Wukong couldn’t lay a hand on him. They both did. They must have stared each other down for quite a while, before Liuer rolled his eyes. “Alright. Will you let go of me, now?”

Wukong did, still tense and defensive. 

“So what happened?” Liuer asked, seemingly not caring for the way his brother’s eyes darted back, in fury and shame. 

“I thought you _knew_.” Wukong glared, bitterness in his tongue. “All seeing that you are.” He frowned. “All hearing. You know what I mean.”

The Six-Eared Macaque puffed up with pride, then settled down when he saw the withering look Wukong shot him. “Like I’ve said before, I don’t know everything. And I’ve got better things to do than to sit around and listen to whatever mess you've gotten into.” Funny. He’d had no problems with that before. “And besides, Heaven’s off limits.”

Wukong blinked. “Of limits.”

Liuer waved him off, now looking a lot more awkward than before. “I can’t hear anything going on in heaven. There’s this weird…static. Every time I try.” 

Huh.

“We never did figure out how your ears work, did we?” The Monkey King folded his arms, now looking more thoughtful than angry. 

Liuer shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t care.”

“You…probably should.”

“Oh, just-! Why make this about me? This is about you, isn’t it? Like it _always_ is.”

Wukong threw his hands up, glaring at the cave ceiling. “Oh _come on_! When did you get like this? Why can't I talk to you like a normal person?!”

The Six-Eared Macaque tilted his head, an ideal of calm. “You know why.” All the air stood still. 

Wukong swallowed a lump in his throat. “I-I couldn’t do anything. How was I supposed to know? How?”

_“Because you should have never left!”_

Liuer was never loud. He'd always spoken with a volume that could be mistaken for gentle, if not for his tone. Wukong had always thought it was due to his hearing. So when he did yell, angry and unrestrained, they both looked almost scared of what had come out.

Wukong knew that none of what Liuer said made any sense. Without his time with his Master, he would have never had the skills to take down the King of Havoc or save anyone. But his brother’s words drilled into him like needles, joining the already growing array of doubts that he’d learned how to skillfully tuck away into the recesses of his mind, do be dealt with on…another time. The nagging voice was there, fueled by arrogance and pride, telling him that _he let her die. He let them all die. All of those children and grandchildren. He let his monkeys be tossed around like rats. He let the Jade Emperor make a laughingstock of him._

He remembered that night, when he’d finally come face to face with his brother, having never had a glimpse of him in two decades. He’d wanted to tell him all about the things he’d seen, omitting only the details he promised he would not breathe a word of. 

Instead, he saw his brother’s face, his anger, his disappointment matching only that of his master. He had thought being cast out in such a disgraceful way would have been his lowest point. He was wrong. 

_“Go. Back to where you came from.”_

_“Go home,_ Shiho _.”_

His Master’s words rang through his head. All it took was one mistake, and ten years, _ten years_ under him had stopped mattering in an instant. How was it any different now? 

Liuer didn’t want him to be the Monkey King, to be Sun Wukong. It didn’t matter to him the thousands of armies he’d collected by his side. His brother never wanted his strength. If Liuer could make him go back to the time he was a weepy, naïve child, he would make it so.

Puti had wanted restraint. Liuer wanted to stifle him.

But Sun Wukong was not gonna bow to anyone - not Heaven, and certainly not his brother.

The Monkey King smiled, stiff and furious. He spoke slowly, calmly, on the verge of an epiphany he’d failed to grasp for most of his life. His hands were shaking. “If you still wanna cry about it then go. Go cry. But _I,”_ he took a deep shuddering breath, holding back from something he didn’t quite understand, “have more important things to do.” 

Liuer’s eyes widened. For a moment, just a moment, he looked lost. He let himself get shoved out of the way, the Monkey King striding out with a posture quite different than before. The older monkey looked back at him and watched as the water curtain parted, a slip of sunlight falling onto his startled face. 

He called himself Great Sage Equaling Heaven and planted a flag to set it in stone. He would not yield until the Jade Emperor himself granted him the title. They threw enemy after enemy his way, and he’d conquered them all.

Liuer watched from the sidelines as Shiho leaped around, grin wide and arrogant, diving easily as the Mighty Miracle god delivered blow after blow, all evaded with the ease of gliding through water. When the Celestial had retreated after a crushing defeat, the Monkey King heaved the _Ruyi Jingu Bang_ onto his narrow shoulders, and, casting a glance toward the retreating soldier, yelled out his new title, demanding to be heard. 

Later, the Great White Planet once again graced them with his presence, delivering the message of heaven’s acceptance of their new Great Sage, and of another charge.

Another few years passed by. It takes a while to let go, and not much at all to hold onto your bitterness. While one brother let his pride take hold of him, enough to block out any sort hésitation or doubt, the other grew spiteful and cold. So when that time ran out, and the Great Sage Equaling Heaven once again left Heaven for Earth, he brought his problems with him. The Six Eared Macaque watched the legions of Heavenly Soldiers gather around the mountain, watched hopelessly the loyal and naïve monkey demons, eager to follow their king to their deaths. And he was filled with an existential dread, like they were all hurling toward the end of something, off an impenetrable abyss.

The younger brother had no such fears. He was beyond them, believing wholeheartedly, unyieldingly, that he could triumph any foe, overcome any obstacle, simply because he had not, yet, been proven wrong. There were no consequences, because he no longer found himself doubting. He let all of that go, in favor of the exhilarating feeling of being unconquerable, equal to- no, _more_ than even the gods. Doubt made you weak, and if there was one thing Sun Wukong was not, it was weak. 

But the older brother knew, knew that someday, be it today, or tomorrow, or in one hundred years, this would all be gone. He had nothing left to do but to try to appeal to his brother’s, his _king’s_ , own common sense, however much he had left. He did not come to him with insults, or with jeers, or with any of the grudges he was still holding onto like a child desperate to be right. None of them would help, and whatever mess Shiho was making for himself, it would inevitably affect them all. 

“You can’t take on all of them.”

“Just watch me.” The Monkey King put on his armor, the one acquired years ago the Dragon King, by methods he still thought were fair. It caught the scattered rays of sunlight which penetrated the water curtain, the polished metal shining. Beyond the cave, the beating of war drums, the cheering of monkeys and other demonic allies could be heard. The feather crown the Monkey King wore curled over his head, a blatant display of his own hubris.

“So you’ll beat them this time. The Jade Emperor will only send more. And more. Do you really think you’re a match for all the gods in Heaven?”

Shiho laughed then, loud and wicked and for the first time, Liuer wondered if this was what he’d sounded like, too. “Read the flags.”

“You’ll fall in one of these battles.”

“No. But that’s what _you_ want to happen, isn’t it?”

“ _Shiho_ , please-”

“ **That’s not my name.”**

His ears filled with static. “You won’t listen to me. That’s fine. Listen for _them._ ” Liuer’s voice broke. " _You’re gonna get us all killed,_ ” he whispered. 

That made Shiho pause. Only for a moment. The shame he’d pushed aside threatened to bubble to the surface should he doubt himself again. And that was a threat too powerful to ignore. The monkey scoffed, reaching into his ear for his weapon. The staff expanded at once, and he thrust it onto his shoulders, turning toward the fall. “If you wanna be a coward and hide, that’s fine. But _don’t_ drag me down with you. I’m _nothing_ like you.”

“I’ll tell them! I’ll tell them all his name!”

Shiho froze in place, still as a statue.

“Puti, isn’t it? I remember.” Liuer’s voice was hoarse, he felt feverish, like he was stepping off a cliff and into an abyss there was no way to climb out of. Shiho didn’t move. “I heard. Everything.” He laughed. “If you don’t hold off this war, I will-“

“What will you do?” The Monkey King turned around slowly, his gaze unsurprised. Piercing. 

“I-I’ll tell them who taught you. I know what your _Master_ said to you. I wonder how heaven will feel about him after that. I wonder how he’ll feel about _you_.” He was manic. Shiho’s eyes never left his face. 

“Alright,” he said finally, “do it.” He shrugged casually, “And whatever punishment I’ll receive, I can promise you, _I can do much worse than that_.”

He walked away. Liuer let him.

When Wukong lay, face down in the dirt, the god Erlang Shen towering over him like an unyielding pillar, his pipa bone bleeding on the ground, he thought about his brother’s gloating eyes, watching him through the settling smoke, telling him that he’d been right all along. That infuriated him more than anything. And struggling, underneath that anger, was a twisting, old stand of shame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You don’t know how many times I avoided typing “Demon Lion King”. That would’ve been a better live action remake.  
> I know, I skipped the fight with Nezha. It still happens, I just didn’t wanna derail the story because Nezha sure is good at that.  
> Let's see how many times I can use an idiom with the word “stone” in it challenge.

**Author's Note:**

> Li 里 - about one third of a mile.  
> chǐ 尺 - about one foot.  
> Shiho 石猴 - stone monkey.  
> Liuer 六耳 - six ears.  
> Jing(Jin) 金 - gold.  
> Nuan 暖 - warm, genial.  
> Xiao Dou 小豆 - little bean.
> 
> Many thanks to Idonquixote for their help with the Chinese translations.  
> Find me on Tumblr @videogamelover99.


End file.
